The Realm Wars
by Katkiller-V
Summary: There is only one Soul Society, but within it are three great cities: The Seireitei, Atlantis, and Tamoanchan. But when Aizen begins his open war against the Gotei Thirteen, the battle will not be confined to merely Karakura town. The worlds of both the living and the dead will shake as the armies march, and the stakes, godhood and eternity, couldn't be higher.
1. Prologue

I don't own Bleach.

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**The Realm Wars**

_Introduction._

Basically this is a "what-if" story centering around the idea of multiple city-states within the Soul Society of bleach, each corresponding to a different region of Earth, and not all of them are loyal to the spirit king. In this new world, Ichigo and co, the Captains of the Seireitei, the Espada, and the captains of these other cities will have to decide what it is they are actually fighting for in this war for one man's godhood.

This is a rewrite, I didn't like how the pacing was going the first time around, and felt like there was a lot of room for improvement.

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**Act I: The Beginning**

**Prologue: Pre-Emptive Strikes**

"_We know he's using us for his own ends, but as long as he helps us get our revenge, what does it matter who sits on God's throne?_" ~ _Legatus Legionis Agrippa Caesar (deceased)_

* * *

_**Five days after Aizen's Betrayel of the Gotei 13**_

"Run dammit! Run!" He could feel her energy spiking, the air becoming dry and hot within moments as she released her powers to the limit. "I can't hold them long! Run!"

It was all he could do to obey his Captain's command. His lungs were burning, and he could feel his life's blood pouring from a dozen minor wounds across his body. Even his blade's spirit was whimpering with exhaustion, its soft moans all the proof he needed that he had reached the end of his strength.

In any other situation, he would have simply collapsed on the spot, hoping that the medical division would find him before he bled out.

_But to stop running means to die... to die means to fail... to fail means that my people's sacrifice means nothing..._

Ahead, its stepped form cratered from the impacts of spells and _cero_, was one of the few remaining citadels. And behind him... behind him were creatures that his Captain could only hold at bay for a few minutes, selling her life to buy him the time to escape through the last functioning spirit gate.

His feet carried him forwards, legs moving in a shuffling jog that was the best he could manage. As he slowly left the battle behind could hear the shouts and screams, he could feel the spiritual energy roaring as what was left of his division desperately held the line.

_Move... just keep moving... get to the Citadel..._

Even as he approached the massive structure, a dozen beams of crimson and blue roared overhead. Most exploded against the massive stone pyramid itself, while others impacted the ground near its base. His heart clenched as nearly a dozen energy sources vanished in the explosions.

_How many... how many more of us will die..._

Some defenders still remained, their own spells and abilities hurling energy back at their attackers, but the pitiful few that remained were only delaying the inevitable. This last fortress would fall within the hour, and there was nothing that they could do about it. They had given all that flesh, and blood, and steel could give, and it simply hadn't been enough. Not against what came for them.

"Lieutenant! The gate is open sir!" he wasn't sure who shouted it as he approached, and he lacked the breath to respond. Staggering into a flash step, it was all he could to aim himself through the doorway, nearly retching at the effort required to do even that much.

_**They..come**__!_ Mishihpeshu's voice was weak within his mind, her energy drained from the days of fighting that had led to this. _**Run**__!_

The next minutes passed as a blur. He could vaguely recall other warriors aiding him, using what little power they had left to heal some of his wounds, to let him move just a little faster. Others merely settled into combat stances behind him, waiting for the enemy to arrive so that they too could sacrifice themselves to buy him a few more minutes.

At times, all he saw were images. The grim face of a healer going slack, the last of his spiritual energy shifting into that of a fifth division warrior. The dead eyes of those too wounded to fight anymore, well aware of their impending fate. He remembered the sad smile of the Lieutenant of the Healing Squad, the only other ranked officer left, her blade twisting into the shape of a bow as she took her place to defend her dying charges.

_Why...? Why... has all of this... happened!?_

Finally entering the heart of the pyramid, where a massive gate waited to take him away, he paused.

_**What... are you doing!? Go through!**_

_Not... yet..._

Closing his eyes, he stretched out with his sixth sense, and felt his city dying. He could feel the dying flicker of his Captain, the heat of the desert drowning as water and wind ripped through her body. Nearer, the sweet healer, the Lieutenant who had sworn to never take a life, calmly stood her ground as a serpent approached.

And further away... the decaying energy of the Captain Commander still permeated through the air. Even with his death days before, the lingering energy of his earth spirit was still to be felt, marking the great crater like a spectral tombstone. The energy of the other Captains was already gone, faded... or consumed.

"Lieutenant Ahiga."

He turned. An older man, wearing the robes of a magic user, gave him a kind smile.

"Please, sir. There's no time."

It was all he could do to nod and turn back to the gate. Lights danced before him, the curtain of energy beckoning him forth.

Closing his eyes, he took a single breath, and stepped into the light.

The old man watched for a moment, counting to himself. Reaching twenty, he carefully murmured the words to the spell, and then sighed with exhaustion.

The gate began to pulse and writhe, the tremendous energy expanding against its rapidly vanishing constraints. Throughout the structure, friend and foe alike felt the ripple of its power. The invaders, suddenly desperate, reversed their course, desperately using both flash steps and _sonido_ to move away. The defenders, long expecting this outcome, simply shut their eyes, and waited for the end.

A few moments later, the ancient structure vanished in a blast of fire and energy, the last legacy of Tamoanchan, Soul Society of the Americas.

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_Urahara's Notebook, Page 1,487_

_Ahh. Tamoanchan, soul society of the American continents. Alone of the three city-states, it lacks a common language, even a common mode of dress. Or a unified society at all really. Their army, the Guard, is the smallest of the three, but they try to make up for it in sheer tenacity. They're even more reclusive within their own society than we shinigami are. They rarely, if ever, leave their pyramid citadels, but given how dangerous the districts are, it's not particularly surprising._

_At their height, they featured eight divisions, plus the usual specialist detachments of kido users, medics, and scouts. They've been lucky, and able to stay out of most of the big-time events of the last few centuries, and haven't had to deal with as many mortal wars._

_A note on their zanpakotou; functionally, they're similar to our own, they have an inner spirit that can be manifested, but oddly they don't have a shikhai-bankai distinction. Instead, they have only one release that increases on power based on the level of trust between the two, as well as the wielder's own power. For example, a trainee with an earth type blade might be only able to make you lose your footing, but give him a century or two, and he might be able to bring down most of a city._

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**Next is Chapter 1: A Day and Night of Discovery**

I hope people will enjoy this fic that I am putting together. It will focus heavily on combat, and the motivations behind the various character's actions.

**Please, please Review!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 - A Day and Night of Discovery**

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"_When you are in a combat situation, you must always remember to adapt to the situation at hand. Failure you to do will result in your deaths, and the deaths of those who you lead. Remember, you are not the only one with a plan..." _~ Sosuke Aizen, briefing 5th Division Recruits

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**One week after Aizen's Betrayal, Squad 13 Compound**

"Ichigo! Pay attention!" the tiny midget's fist rocketed into his cheek, causing the young substitute soul-reaper to groan loudly in pain.

"Dammit Rukia, I'm still injured here!" he gestured frantically at the bandages covering his entire torso, scowling at the tiny woman. Even without her powers, she still seemed to have plenty of energy, and a will to lay into him whenever she thought he was doing stupid.

_Which is all of the time, apparently. _He groused to himself, trying to recall, exactly, why he had risked his life to save her.

The petite woman merely rolled her eyes at him, "We both know that you're almost back at full strength, thanks to Orihime. You're just playing up being hurt so that Kenpachi doesn't try and fight you again."

He felt his usual frown settle into his face, "You don't have to say it like that." _Even if it is true. Dammit, that man is insane. And it's not like it's working either, bastard still chased me halfway across the city yesterday._

"Then get your head out of the clouds! The Captain will be here any minute, and this has to be something big!" she gave him a scowl of her own, "Captain Ukitake is one of the oldest and most respected Captains, and he helped you save my life. He wouldn't summon both of us if it wasn't important."

Glowering at her, he nodded slowly, vaguely recalling the pair of men who had destroyed the giant naginata that had turned giant fire-bird.

"He was..." he tried to remember the details. Putting names to faces had never really been his strong-suit. "…the white haired guy?"

"Yes, and you will refer to him as Captain Ukitake." the tiny soul reaper carefully adjusted her posture, slipping into an aristocratic pose within a breath. It was not the first time he had seen her do that, but he had no idea how the hell she slipped between her disparate personalities like that. "And no cursing either. Act like you're civilized, for once."

"Why you..." Steam was practically shooting out of his ears, and he could feel his teeth grinding, "I'll have you know everyone says I'm extremely mature for my age."

Ichigo could practically _feel_ the smirk on her face, even if she was look at the empty desk instead of at him. "Oh you are, are you? Then what was that with Renji this morning?"

"It wasn't _my_ fault, that pineapple headed idiot started it!"

"Mmhmm." Her voice adopted the same cool tone he had heard her use to boss around the Kuchiki clan servants, "Just shut up before you look even more like a fool than usual."

His jaw began to ache as he forced himself to not react to her taunting. Normally their banter would relax him, or at least, not wind him up as badly as it was right now. The past two days had been little more than a tired blur to him, and he had to admit that he was still a bit on edge. Besides Kenpachi doing his best to track him down for a rematch, there were hundreds of other Soul reapers running around everywhere. Most of them were trying to figure out exactly what the three traitors had done before they left, while others, like poor Hanataro, were taking care of the many wounded.

_Or getting bullied by the wounded._ _Damn those punks, they're the reason I got kicked out of the fourth and had to crash at Renji's place._

The last thought almost made him growl out loud. He had managed to put up with being in the same hospital as some Eleventh division members for less than a day before he had gotten into a fight with some of the thugs. A trio of them had been trying to boss around some of the young nurses, including one that reminded him almost painfully of Yuzu. Personally, he thought that he had shown great patience and restraint by _not_ bodily throwing them through the walls as soon as he caught sight of them. Instead, he had tried to talk them down first... which admittedly had not gone so hot, so he had then moved on to plan b, which involved illustrating to them exactly who it was they were dealing with.

_Serves them right for picking on them like that. Just who do they think that they are?_

Unfortunately for him, the Fourth's lieutenant, a tall woman he vaguely remembered but whose name escaped him, had been polite but firm in kicking him out after she had arrived at the scene of the… disaster.

_Well, I guess I did give her more work to do. And... I kinda trashed that room didn't I?_

Grimacing, he glanced about the office that Rukia had dragged him into, looking for something to district himself. It was very plain, a simple desk and with an equally bland chair in front of them, a few pictures of flowers on the walls. The only really notable feature was the large windows giving the view of a pleasant seeming garden.

"So who is this Ukkitake guy again?"

"I already told you idiot!"

He rolled his eyes, "I meant, 'what's this guy like?'."

"Show respect! He is a great man, and a great Captain! He's-"

Before she could continue her tiny tantrum, the panel door behind them slid open, and Ichigo cocked his head back to watch the newcomer enter. It was the Captain, Ukitake, apparently. He was thin, with long bleach-white hair, and a face that seemed like it was used to smiling. Rukia promptly shot to her feat, bowing low, lower than she typically did for Byakuya, even.

"Good morning Captain!"

Far more slowly, he rose after her, inclining his head slightly, and promptly ignored Rukia's hiss at his behavior.

"Yo." he grunted, earning another hiss of disapproval.

"Good morning Rukia," the Captain inclined his head politely, "And to you Ichigo Kurosaki. I don't know if you remember me, from the Sokyoku hill. I was only there briefly."

"I remember." _Barely. _"You led the old man away."

The Captain nodded solemnly, "It pained me to fight my _sensei_, but I couldn't let what was happening continue." he moved as he spoke, heading around them and towards his desk. A pale hand waved politely, inviting them to move in front of his desk. Rukia settled into her chair, and gave him a little glower as she did so.

He nodded slowly in turn, and ignored his companion entirely, moving the chair aside so he had room to stand where it had been. As much as he sucked at sensing spirit energy, there was still something... calming about the guy. His polite smiles and kind voice did not _feel_ like an act, at least, as far as he could tell. While he might have been terrible at detecting the energy, he allowed himself a little pride at being very good at feeling out that energy that he _could _sense. And Ukitake _felt_ like kindness and gentle warmth, he radiated it like a bright summer day on the beach.

_Better than dealing with Kenpachi, that's for sure. Bastard makes you feel like there's a sword at your throat just standing next to him. _A more worrisome thought entered his mind, _Wonder what I feel like to him…_ He shook off the thought as quickly as he could, trying to come back to the conversation.

"Well, thanks for that, I think." A hand rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"None are necessary," he gave him a smile; "I couldn't stand by while one of my best soldiers was in peril. Now," he settled into his chair, "I'm sure you're wondering why I called you in here this morning."

"A bit." he admitted. _It's not like I have anything else to do, but still, why the heck are we here?_

"How much has Rukia taught you about the Soul Society?"

He shrugged, "Not much really."

Rukia shifted uncomfortably in her seat, "My apologies sir. I was hopeful that my powers would return quickly, so I saw no need to. I thought that the less he knew the better off he would be when I had to leave."

"It is quite all right," Ukitake gave her another smile, "Had your powers returned, and had anyone found out about what you'd done, I'm sure you decision would have helped you both a great deal."

Ichigo wasn't really sure how to respond to that, so he settled for adopting his usual frown and waited for the Captain to continue, which he did shortly.

"Ichigo, may I call you that?" the older soul reaper asked politely.

"It's fine."

"Thank you. How much do you know about our government and politics?"

He blinked at the seemingly random question, "Only what I picked up in the last couple weeks, why?"

"I thought so." A quiet sigh came from the Captain's slim form, "Are you aware of the other Soul Societies?"

"There's more than one?" That was definitely news to him. "I thought that this was it, the afterlife and everything."

"And how many people, not of Asian descent, have you seen here?" From anyone else, he'd have thought the question a sarcastic rejoinder, but the older man made it seem more like a teacher, asking an important question to make him realize the point.

"A few…" and he couldn't recall any of their names, "But not all that many."

The Captain gave Rukia a slight nod, and she spoke quietly. "The Seireitei. Tamoanchan. Atlantis. Those are the three cities within the Soul Society, each one is responsible for different areas of the living world. The other two have their own soul reapers, with their own powers. All three are supposed to be loyal to the Spirit King, and be ready and able to defend each other should a threat arise. We defend what you humans call Asia, and the islands of the Pacific Ocean."

"Ohhh...so we can get their help against Aizen then?" He nodded slowly, letting a hand rise to his chin thoughtfully, "A whole bunch more Captains would let you guys kick his ass easy right?"

White hair shifted as Ukitake bowed his head slightly, eyes falling to his desk.

"Captain?" Rukia asked, her voice picking up a trace of alarm, "What's wrong?"

"Tamoanchan… has fallen, Rukia."

Ichigo watched a Rukia's eyes grow, the pure shock and terror in her face going beyond what he had ever seen before. She looked like that Aizen bastard had just shoved his hand into her chest again, digging around to find that stupid little orb. When she spoke, her voice was a raspy whisper, "Fallen?"

"A Lieutenant emerged from the portal to their city two days ago. He was badly wounded, nearly delirious. Before Captain Unohana took him into surgery, he was able to report that his city had fallen. It has taken us that long to confirm his story." His voice was serious. "Reportedly, their attacks were both hollows... and soul reapers, specifically..." he sounded like he was in pain as he said the words, "the Legions of Atlantis."

"Wait," Ichigo's mind whirled, the information coming too fast for him to process, "You're telling me that there's two other cities, just like here, and that one of them betrayed you and attack the other?"

"Yes, Ichigo. That seems to be what has happened. Captain Sui-Feng has sent patrols to the world of the living, hoping to find any survivors able to flee from the Soul Society." There was a long sigh, "But things… do not look good right now.

"Why the hell would these Atlantean guys fight _with_ hollows?"

"The Quincy Wars." The voice came from behind him, and he spun his head around to see Uryu standing there, pushing his glasses up as he typically did when he felt emotional. Or superior. Virtually all the time in other words. "That's why, isn't it Captain?"

His eyebrow twitched angrily, "When did you get here!?"

"Just now. I invited him as well, Ichigo. As for the wars...it is just a theory, but it does seem to fit." the Captain spoke quietly, "In the two centuries since, they have become... remote, aloof, and bitter."

Ichigo tossed another glare at Uryu, deciding to ignore the fact that he didn't know how long he'd been standing there, "Get on with it."

"When the order came down to exterminate the Quincy, all three cities were ordered to participate." the young Quincy explained, glancing out the window as he did so, "My Grandfather made sure that I knew that part, about the three cities, all acting in concert to eliminate _all _Quincies, everywhere. That's why there are so few of us left. But that didn't mean that the division of labor was equal. Europe, with all of its bloody wars, had long been a breeding ground for hollows, and so there were more Quincy, and stronger ones, there than anywhere else."

"The battles here were horrible Ichigo, so many friends lost.." the Captain seemed to be remembering them personally, his face twitching as his eyes closed, "But it was nothing compared to the assault on the Vandenreich, the personal kingdom of the Quincy Emperor. It was deep in the mountains of Europe, and the battle there raged for days without ending."

Uryu picked up the grim story, "My _sensei_ did not want to tell me much about what happened there. He said I was too young to be told of such dark things. A few years after he died, I found his notes about the battles." he shook his head, "It was bad, Ichigo. Take everything you know about the wars of humans and make it worse. Thousands died on both sides, and their deaths drew hollows like flies. Menos Grande walked the living Earth, and only the intervention of the most powerful Soul Reapers ended the war. There were even rumors of even more powerful hollows attempting to force their way in."

"We arrived there, and the Captain Commander slew Juhabach, leader of the Quincy, and their progenitor. But..." Ukitake looked…ashamed, guilty. "But we were too late."

He hadn't been there long, and he didn't know much about the dead government of the Seireitei. What little he did know had come largely from drunken ramblings from Renji and another lieutenant, and it wasn't terribly flattering. Hell, if half of what they had told him was true, it was possible that Aizen had done them a freaking favor by killing them all.

Working from there, he made a quick guess, his voice hard, "You… made sure you were late, didn't you?"

Next to him, Rukia gave a stunned gasp, her wide eyes staring at him like he had just insulted her Captain's mother.

"The Central Forty-Six, our governing body, ordered it." _At least he has the good grace to look ashamed about it. _"They were afraid of how Atlantis was expanding its forces, how strong they were becoming. They feared that they would push their strange ways on to us, force us to abandon our traditions, our nobility, to become like them. So when they asked us for help... we delayed. And now it seems... two centuries of bitter anger has finally been given an outlet."

"Aizen" it was Rukia, still looking as though she was in shock, who whispered the name.

"Yes. It would seem that they have chosen to follow Aizen Sosuske, instead of the Spirit King." He sounded more resigned, even sad, than upset.

"Why the hell would they do that? I mean, being pissed at you is one thing, but siding with hollows instead of other Soul Reapers?" Ichigo was having a hard time keeping himself calm, his mind was running in a hundred different directions as the conversation kept shifting. "Don't they care about all the people who are gonna die, who are going to have their souls _eaten?"_

"The scary answer... no, they don't Ichigo." Ukitake shook his head slowly, "It is possible… it is likely, that they don't care about anything besides their revenge at this point."

_How could they..._ he felt his hands tighten into fists. "How many people were in this Tamoa… Tam… Tamoa-place."

"Millions… hundreds of millions of souls." His pale face lowered once more, "Perhaps even billions."

"What's going to happen to them?" he demanded, guessing the answer even as he asked.

"We don't know." the Captain looked down again, "We can't do anything for them now."

"Bullshit! How do we get there?"

A tiny hand slapped across his face. "Ichigo listen to yourself! You saw what Aizen did, how he blocked your attack. You want to fight him, however many thousands of hollows he controls, plus all of the Atlantean soul reapers!?"

He blinked slowly, staring at her in shock, the slow anger that had been gathering within him scattering with the sudden pain.

"Face it! The only reason you saved me is because most of the Captains here didn't really want to stop you! Now you want to go to a war-zone, against who knows how many enemies? You'll be killed like a dog!" the tiny girl ranted, hands placed angrily upon her slim hips.

"Rukia, calm yourself." gentle pressure began to emit from the white haired man. "Ichigo, there is no way to get to either Tamoachan or to Atlantis. Our allies destroyed their gates as they fell, to prevent Atlantis from using them to attack us from within our walls. Our own gates to Atlantis have been sealed at the Captain Commander's order, for the same reason. To travel to either from here is a journey of months, even years."

"So how do they get to Earth then?"

"If you could travel to an area of the living world connected to their city, then you could open a gate there, but for someone your age, that journey is also, impossible." Hands spread apart, "And even if you could make such a trip, you would find an extremely powerful enemy awaiting you, one that would have no qualms about slaying you simply for wearing that uniform."

He felt his molars grinding once more as the anger began to build, "So we're stuck here then, waiting for them to make their move?"

"I'm afraid so. With so many of our officers wounded, it's really all we can do. Most of our warriors are still in the world of the living, being recalled from patrol while we re-organize ourselves. It will be some time before we are truly ready for this war."

"We can't just sit here!" he protested, "There has to be something we can do!"

"I'm sorry Ichigo. All we can do is train and grow stronger, while Captain Sui-Feng's people do their work." he shook his head slightly, honest regret in his soft voice, "She was trained by your mentor, Yoruichi. She will find out what we need to know."

Growling to himself, he rose to his feet, glaring at nothing in particular. "Fine. Anything else I should know?"

"I'm sure that Kisuke can tell you more once you return to your world." Ukitake spoke quietly. "I will contact you when we have a plan of action."

"Whatever." feeling his arms tightening, he stalked angrily from the room, brushing past Uryu without a word, and completely ignoring another hiss from Rukia at his rudeness.

He felt his feet stomping harder than was necessary on the wooden floor as they carried him away from the office, and he glowered into the distance as his anger smoldered.

_Soul Reapers are supposed to defend human souls, right? Then what the hell is going on here?! How many people are getting _eaten_ right now while everyone here sits around?_

_**Ichigo. Calm down**_.

He blinked as the deep voice reverberated within his head, _Old man zangetsu?_

_**Calm yourself Ichigo. You know there is nothing you can do about what is happening there. You are merely torturing yourself, and returning the rain to your soul.**_

His legs continued moving, his long strides carrying him onto a path next to the garden. _That doesn't make it any easier, old man._

_**I know. You would not be my wielder if it were easy on you, nor would you be yourself.**_

_Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?_

Sighing, he turned, stopping to slam his hands onto the wooden rail. Not bothering to control his strength, the wood cracked and splintered in his tightening grip. Stray motes of blue energy flickered around his hand, what little control he had fading with the stress.

_Dammit old man, give me a straight answer for once!_

"Oy! We just fixed those you idiot!"

Feeling his eye twitch he turned his head to stare at the person who had talked.

"And just who are you supposed to be?" He didn't bother to keep the irritation out of his voice, or make the effort to suppress the energy that continued to flicker across his hands and forearms.

The speaker was a short woman, a blonde whose expression shifted from irritation to timid fear as she apparently recognized him. Her wide eyes flicked to his arms and then nervously back to his face.

"Th-Third Seat Kiyone Kotetsu!" He had to give it to her; she was trying not to show how terrified she had apparently just become. That drew a sigh, and he began to reign in on his power.

_I didn't work to get this strong to scare girls._

"Kotetsu huh." The name rang a bell. "I've heard that name somewhere before."

"Her sister healed you, and then kicked you out." Rukia's voice came from just behind him. She was panting slightly, probably from having to chase him down. "Seriously Ichigo, learn to remember people's names!"

"Oh," he rubbed the back of his head, "Right. Sorry about that," he turned, "And sorry about the railing."

"It's all right," the woman's attitude shifted slightly. Her body language was still wary, but her eyes became bright, "Did my sister really kick you out of the fourth division!?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"What the he… what did you do?"

His left eye twitched again, "I beat up some Eleventh division bullies." A shrug, "And I apparently made a mess doing it."

"You destroyed that storage room! And the hallway! And the two rooms they were assigned in!" Rukia snapped, obviously still irritated with him.

"I did?" He didn't remember doing _that_ much damage. Sure, he'd tossed them through that one wall. Then they'd ganged up on him and shoved him through the door to the room next to it. Then… well, maybe he _had_ done that much damage.

"You did!?" The girl was openly gaping at him now, "B-but.. Captain Unohana..."

"She wasn't there." the dark haired girl replied to the other, "And Isane was polite about it."

"Of course she was! My big sister is nice like that. Shes-"

Rukia interrupted her before she could continue, "Kiyone! Captain Ukitake requested your presence."

"He did!? Ihavetogo!" her last words turned into a blur as she suddenly shot off. He blinked blankly after her.

"Um…" while he still bad for scaring her, he had to call it like he saw it. "She's not the brightest one, is she?"

"She's very loyal." His companion's voice was dry, but there was a tinge of protectiveness in it. "And she is much stronger than she seems, she wouldn't be the rank she is otherwise."

"Uh-huh."

She gave him a side-long glance. "Ichigo..."

"Yeah?" He carefully avoided her gaze.

"I know that look... You're thinking of your mother again."

His shoulders slumped slowly. The damn midget was way too perceptive when she wanted to be.

"Ichigo... there's nothing we can do."

"Is that... supposed to make it... _easier_?" It came out as a growl, and he had to work to keep his power in check yet again.

A tiny hand touched his back, gently pressing against him. "No… but it _is_ something that you have to accept."

There wasn't much that he could say to that. Just because she was right, _damn her_, didn't mean that he liked it.

"Fine."

"Let's get you to my brother's home. I'll have the servants make us some tea, and we can relax for a while."

He took one last glance around him, and nodded slightly.

_It really is a beautiful garden._

* * *

"_Given the heinous nature of that charlatan's work, we, the Central 46, hereby dictate that all of Kisuke Urahara's research be sealed for all time. Our decision is final and irrevocable."_ ~ Spokesman for the Central 46, after the Hollowification incident.

* * *

**That Evening, Vancouver International Airport**

Captain Shaolin Feng, known to most as Sui-Feng, was widely regarded of one of the most terrifying Captains of the Gotei 13. You wouldn't think it just by looking at her. She was not the largest, or the strongest, and the old man probably had her beat on speed. When she had first joined the Stealth Force, her tiny size had led to all kinds of problems.

But now, more than a century later, all she had to do was walk past for the terrified glances to begin, men and women of all ranks freezing in place. Some of that was because of her position. Very few leaders of the Second Division had been approachable individuals, given their role of keeping their eyes on both sides of the fight. Though to be fair, her attitude was even more extreme than most, which often left her on her own, which was how she preferred it.

The rest of it though, was all her. She knew she wasn't attractive like some of the other female officers, the ones capable of using their charms to get ahead in the afterlife. Her body was small, lacking in both her bust and her hips, and even her facial features lacked any defined kind of grace. What she did have, however, was power, pride, and the will to crush anything or anyone stupid enough to get in her way.

But at the moment, none of that, save her pride, mattered. It was the only thing keeping her going from the horrific ordeal that she had just experienced.

Groaning, she very slowly made her way up the jet bridge, leaving the infernal machine behind her.

_I hate those things! When I find the souls that designed them..._

She was no stranger to flight, but it was entirely different for her to rely upon her own energies to move through the air compared to relying on a pair of regular humans controlling her life. Just the idea of her life no longer being in her own hands...it made her want to retch yet again.

_Damn Kurotsuchi._

The crazed scientist Captain had informed her that there was no way for him to be able to open the gates to Tamoachan without risking them being held open from the other side. Without the gate, the fastest method of getting to their territory was to head into the human realm and fly across the ocean. Unfortunately, not even the strongest Captains could maintain flight across the entire ocean, which left two options. Either head north, hopping from island to island and resting on the frigid cold spits of land, or get Urahara to give her a gigai and a pair of flight tickets.

_And I just haaaad to listen to Yoruichi-sama, I should have risked the damn frostbite and taken the slow way._

Her stomach rolled again, causing her to clench her teeth against her gigai's protests. She had lost control of her stomach once before, when the aircraft had ascended through a vicious storm, and she was determined that such weakness would not happen again.

_And damn Urahara as well for sticking me in a body this accurate! How the hell does air make something so massive bounce around anyway?_

Shoving her hands into her jean pockets, she lengthened her stride as best as her short legs would allow, ignoring the rolling of her gut through sheer willpower. The few humans present at the airport were quick to get out of her way upon catching the deep scowl, and slight greenish tinge, on her face. A few of the more lecherous ones eyed her as she moved past, though none were stupid enough to actually block her path.

This was a bit unfortunate really. Beating the one of them senseless wouldn't have helped her stomach, but it would have done quite a bit to improve her state of mind.

After uselessly waiting in line for customs, and passing through without incident thanks to Urahara's false identification, she resumed her trek towards the exit lobby. A few more minutes of walking and glaring at anyone stupid enough to not get out of her way, she found an open area and glanced around.

_There_ _he is_.

Her contact was a pale Caucasian man leaning casually against a pillar, his eyes twitching around the sparse crowd. His left hand was holding a sign labeled simply, "Sui-Feng".

_He hasn't shaved, hooded eyes. Fatigue. Eyes are nervous, he's been in combat recently. Right arm is limp, either missing in his true form or badly injured. Focus on that area if he becomes hostile. Spirit energy signature is the same as I remember it._ Barely aware of the stream of thought running through her head, she approached him.

"Ah, Captain Feng. It's been a while." his eyes focused on her as she closed, his mouth curving into a tired smile. He spoke in flawless Mandarin, which earned him a nod of approval.

"It has, Fourth-Seat Matkinson, better than fifty years." _Wind based powers. Favors a quick fight, oblige him, I'm better than he is._

The male waved a hand towards the door, "This way Captain. And it's Lieutenant now."

She fell in beside him, feeling an eyebrow raise. "Of which division?"

"I have the dubious honor of being the only seated officer to survive from the Eighth division."

Her eyes narrowed, nearly closing. "How many made it out?"

"Not here." his head nervously twitched around. "The Legionnaires are sticking to their continents, but we've been attacked by hollows several times since the battle. I had to fight off a group of them not more than two hours ago."

She nodded, quieting her voice, "Keep your eyes dead ahead and calm yourself. I will watch our flanks."

"Thank you ma'am."

They said nothing as they entered another walkway, threading their way through the sparse crowd of mortals, and eventually exited into a massive building containing nothing but the vehicles that the living used to travel.

She followed the Lieutenant towards a large white… 'car', she believed they were called,, awkwardly opening the door on her side and climbing in. Following half-remembered instructions from Yoruichi-sama, she fumbled only slightly with the belt before clicking it into place.

Matkinson brought the machine to life, then awkwardly reached across his body to flick a few buttons on the center console. A slight tingle flickered through the air, her gigai's skin tightening slightly.

"There. We built these with an energy-suppressor installed; the Recon-division wanted them so their agents could hide in the open without worrying about keeping their energy under control."

_Memo. Request these. "_Bring me up to speed Lieutenant."

He grimaced, nodding slowly. The rest of his body seemed to be operating on auto-pilot, carefully reversing the car out of its place before manipulating the controls with only slight amounts of awkwardness with his left hand. Soon enough, they were rolling forwards, the vehicle growling as the machinery propelled them. "What led to the situation first, or what the situation currently is?"

"Current."

"Roughly three of our divisions managed to retreat, more or less intact. They're recuperating in cities along the coast line south of us."

"Which cities?"

"Seattle, San Fransisco, Los Angeles."

"Anyone else?"

"Well… We've got stragglers from most of the other squads wandering around. I've been running my ass off trying to get in contact with everyone who managed to find a way here, plus everyone who was still here on patrol when the battle happened." he shrugged slightly, "Maybe another full division's worth, but they're scattered. I've gotten everyone I can to head here, but there are still a lot of troops in South America that I'm not sure we'll be able to help. They're concentrating in Rio de Janeiro, I was going to ask if you had anyone who could get them papers to get out of there."

"We can handle it." _Assuming that things are as they seem. _"How many Captains made it out?"

"Three. The Fourth, Fifth, and Seventh, but Captain Black is pretty badly wounded. They led their divisions through whatever gates they could find after the Captain-Commander was slain." he closed his eyes for a moment, a deep sadness permeating his aura, "The rest... died to cover their escape."

"What about the Third?"

Silence.

Her eyes closed slowly, a fist tightening at her side.

"Who is in command?" the words came out harshly, her voice tight with rarely expressed emotion.

"Captain Ueman, Seventh."

She nodded, forcing herself to relax. "I remember him. Older, tanned, beard. Annoying powers." The old man had been their usual contact during their brief time in the other city, and one of her shoulders twinged at the memory of their sparring sessions.

"He's the strongest surviving officer we have."

"How far away is it?"

"Just up ahead. There's a hotel that we have a standing arrangement with." He gave another little shrug, grimacing slightly in pain as he did so, "Normally it was used as a base for the teams patrolling the city, somewhere safe for them to store their gigai's and supplies."

"Warded?"

A nod, "The Captain was refreshing the spells when I left him."

Nodding as well in approval, she settled into the seat. Outside, the human city drifted past, its inhabitants blissfully unaware of everything that was embroiling the afterlife.

_It must be so easy to be them... to drift along through life, so unaware. _She disliked coming to the living world. It had nothing to do with the human's themselves, they could not help what they were any more than she could help the fact that her soul had its strength. It was... more personal than that. Every time she came here… she saw the easy life that her Captain had always desired, and that she had finally attained.

_Although now... that life has been taken from her, just as her previous life was._ Before she could continue down _that_ unpleasant train of thought, her driver spoke up again.

"Ma'am... did... you want me to..?" Even to her stunted social sensibilities, it was painfully obvious that he did not want to have to relive whatever events had led them to here.

"The Captain can fill me in."

He was silent a moment, before offering a quiet "Thank you ma'am."

She shrugged uncomfortably. Abject terror and obedience she could deal with. Gratitude? Not so much.

Thankfully for her, he soon pulled into a parking lot. The hotel was a small building, one of many apparently in the area. Quiet, unassuming.

_**You can admire their professionalism later, focus!**_

_And just who are you to lecture me on being attentive?_ She shot back. Suzumebachi might have been part of her soul, but that didn't mean that she did not annoy the hell out of her at times. Or most of the time. Well, all the time if she was being totally honest with herself.

_**It's cuz I remind ya of when you were actually a happy person!**_

_Shut it._

Extracting herself from the car, she carefully stretched out her senses.

Matkinson, also rising out to his feet, felt as agitated and exhausted as he looked. Taking a moment to memorize the exact sensation of his powers, she filed them away before carefully searching the surrounding area. He had indeed grown stronger over the last few decades, about to the level of one of the weaker lieutenants, maybe.

_Nothing emitting hollow energies anywhere nearby. That's something at least._

And inside of the building... several moderately sized signatures. Probably rank and file troops, maybe a ranked officer or two, there to escort the Captain. The man himself was keeping his energy tightly reined in; merely giving off enough to confirm that he was present. A few seconds observation against her memories was enough to confirm that it was indeed him. Just like the Lieutenants though, even that little bit of power felt... tired, exhausted.

No longer needing Matkinson to guide her, she entered the building, noting the half-a-dozen men and women in the lobby who eyed her warily as she did so.

"He's in the conference room. First door on the left." A dark-skinned woman informed her, her eyes shifting to the Lieutenant as he entered behind her.

Her eyes narrowed, "And you're sure that I am me?"

"Matkonson is, otherwise he or you would be dead."

"And you trust him?"

The woman smiled lightly, her teeth flashing, "As much as I can trust anyone these days."

_A good answer. They're tired, but not so much so that they've lost their sense of duty._

Turning, she made her way to the conference room. A sign in English proclaimed 'Private Meeting, Do Not Disturb'. Ignoring it, and not bothering to knock, she breezed in.

Ueman looked just as she remembered, save a few extra nicks and dents in his already lined face. His white hair was cut short, perhaps to compensate for the braided beard. The dull blue eyes had fastened on to her instantly, an aged hand moving to his pocket, no doubt where a soul candy was waiting, only to pause when he recognized her.

"Ah, Captain Feng. It's been some time." Like his lieutenant, he was polite enough to speak her language.

She nodded, replying in the same tongue. "Last time I saw you was fifty years ago, when the Central-46 sent us over here to help you set up your academy."

"It served us in good stead while it lasted." he sighed, looking down. "While it lasted…"

Glancing back, she struck out with a leg, kicking the door shut. Her long tresses whipped around as she began to pace, "Captain... no offense, but what the hell happened?"

"None taken, it was... just..." the older man sighed. Moving slowly, he carefully lowered himself into a chair, staring at nothing in particular. "We should have seen it coming."

Eying him, she grabbed a chair from a nearby table, dragged it over, and sat in front of him.

"We had just gotten word from Yamamoto about the betrayal, a staff meeting was planned for the afternoon." he blew a long breath out, "I was concerned, but not overly so. After all, each of the cities has had their own troubles in the past, but it had never been something so critical for the others to become involved. I was on my way there when the alarms started."

"Atlantis?"

He shook his head, "Hollows. Thousands of little ones, hundreds of Menos, even a few adjuchas. Their garganta opened in our outer districts. They were pouring into our realm to devour the pluses living there. So of course we assembled into battle formations, the full might of our divisions ready to march."

"What was your battle plan?"

"Three divisions would meet the enemy head on, with two more acting as a reserve. The Recon division was to sweep around behind the hollows, hopefully with the intention of closing the garganta and trapping them in place." he closed his eyes again, focusing, "The other three divisions remained within our Citadel to defend it."

He sighed, thin hair waving as he shook his head again. "It was a trap. My division remained within the Citadel, so we had to rely on the reports coming back. From what we could tell, the battle was proceeding handily for the first few hours. It wasn't until the Recon forces approached the portals that it turned." There as a long pause, and then he looked straight into her eyes. "I'm sorry Shaolin. They held them off as long as they could... trying to buy the frontal teams a chance to retreat."

There weren't many things that she cared about, but the earnest young warriors brought to her to teach had earned their place in her memories. Even though she hadn't been their _sensei_ for long, their devotion to her harsh teachings, and their unusual insights into her battle tactics had been something that she had... enjoyed.

"It was... Arrancar, more than a hundred strong. And they were leading an even greater force of hollows than we had already been engaging." A pause, "With them were three Shinigami wearing Captain's haiori."

"Aizen. Ichimaru. Toesan." she spat the names, and he nodded slowly in recognition.

"The Recon division held them at bay for nearly an hour, long enough for our main body to fall back into the main district, and for the reinforcements to join them. They began a fighting withdrawal towards the Citadel. It was around then that we put out a signal for help, both to the Seireitei as well as to Atlantis."

"We never received it." _That or Kurotsuchi is a traitor._

"I know. Our messenger was most likely slain within the precipice world, probably by Legionnaires."

"How do you figure that?"

Aged hands spread wide, "How quickly they responded to our call. By that night they were ready to pour through our gates to reinforce us." his voice turned bitter, "We _should_ have been suspicious, but by that point... two Captains were dead, all of the divisions beyond the wall were badly mauled, and it was all we could do from our positions to cover them as they retreated through the gates."

"How many Legions?"

"Five. They poured directly into our rear lines. They're large, Shaolin. Even larger than they should be. I don't know where they found that many souls with power, but they had them. They over-ran our hospital and the west gate in the first few minutes, before most of our people even realized that we had been betrayed. The Captain Commander and his sons released their swords fully, trying to counter-attack, to shut the gate. He ordered the rest of us to pull back, to retreat to the Seireitei or the living realm if he fell before they could."

"Who..?"

The man's shoulders slumped. "Aizen and a pair of Atlantean captains fought him, while another Atlantean and two Arrancer slew his sons. When he fell...we all felt it. That was four days ago. After they fell... we held them off for a while, even retook the gate, but it was just... a matter of time. The others… they knew we couldn't all escape. They didn't even give us a choice. Just had the Kido division open the gates and then set themselves at the enemy."

"And now," an arm waved around them, "Now we're skulking in mortal hotels, hoping that we can survive to flee the lands we were entrusted to keep safe."

"Have you sent anyone back to Tamoachan?"

"Yes, all volunteers. None came back."

Mentally wincing, she nodded. "I will get our assets moving to get you to our territory. Captain Unohana is already preparing her division to care for any of your wounded, and I'm sure that the Captain-Commander will want to debrief you personally."

"I'm sure. We shouldn't remain here much longer, is there anything else?"

There was, there was a great many things that she and her subordinates would have to do to make sure that everyone still alive was actually loyal, but that wasn't something she could organize from here.

"Nothing that can't wait."

He gave her a pointed look, indicating in a single expression that he knew _exactly_ what she was thinking about, before nodding. "Very well. You have your tickets to return?"

Her stomach rolled at the very thought of stepping onto another mortal flying contraption. "I do."

"Matkinson will get you back in time for your flight home. We will be returning to Seattle," he reached into a pocket, slowly emerging with a slip of paper. "Your science types can reach us at these numbers."

Taking them, and giving them a glance, she nodded before turning to leave.

_**You aren't going to be sick this time, are you?**_

_Shut. It._

* * *

"_Did you not hear me, cretin!? The armor will be ready when it is ready! I am dealing with half-scribbled notes centuries out of date, and vague descriptions of our enemy's technology! Would you prefer it if it exploded the moment you touched it!?" _~ Mayuri Kurotoschi, when asked for the finish date on his armor development program

* * *

**The Next Morning, Urahara Shoten**

"My my... she was distinctly green, wasn't she?" Kisuke Urahara was waving his fan before his mouth, carefully making sure that Sui-Feng couldn't see the smile stretching from ear to ear as she entered his gate.

"Give her a break Kisuke." Yoruichi punched him lightly on the arm. "I didn't see _you_ volunteering to take that flight."

"Oh fine," he rolled his eyes before turning serious, "What do you think?"

She stared at the closing gate for a few moments, careful to say nothing until it finished closing. "About Atlantis, or about the Arrancar?"

"Both."

A sigh, followed by an annoyed kick at the dirt. "We all knew the Atlanteans were going to do something. They've been openly angry and bitter for so long without doing anything, it's not a shocker that they sided with Aizen. I'd have honestly been more surprised if they hadn't. And the Arrancar... well, that proves your theory anyway. He did make his own."

Lowering his eyes, he nodded. "He made his own, but he likely never was able to fully awaken its strength. But with my own as well, he could feed one to the other."

"Will that matter?"

"I don't think so. The seal on mine shouldn't have faded just because it was consumed by another, the energy itself would remain within." he nodded slowly in thought, "We still have time. According to Shaolin, he personally fought the old shaman. Not even Yamamoto could have walked away from a fight like that intact, he'll need time to heal, and that gives us time in return."

"Time? To do what Kisuke? To prepare to fight against both Atlantis and Hueco Mundo? We went into this thinking that we could take out Aizen's subordinates, leave him alone and exposed." she shook her head, "But Atlantis... they really knew how to throw a wrench into our plans. We assumed that the Guard could keep them occupied if they jumped in."

"Yes." he turned, swinging Benihime's cane in circles, coming to his decision after just a few moments, "We need to alert Shinji and the others."

"I can do that," she gave him a slow grin," And you get to dump all your wisdom onto Ichigo and his friends."

He groaned, but nodded. "Is he still upset?"

"Of course he is."

"All right, I'll give him a day or two before I call him in." he sighed, tilting his head back to stare at the false sky of his grounds. "I'll have to send him to Shinji earlier than we hoped."

"It can't be helped Kisuke. He has to have his power under control, or else... there are not many people with the kind of power he's got." the smile had faded once more from her face. "You and I both know he's one of the only ones we have who could hold his own against Aizen."

His head lowered slightly. "He could hold his own... for a while. We're training Isshin's son to die, Yoruichi."

Hers lowered as well. "I know."

"I promised Isshin that we would protect him."

"I know."

_What kind of man am I..._

_**You know exactly what kind of many you are... you're the kind of man who can wield ME.**_

_If that was supposed to cheer me up, Benihime, then you failed rather magnificently._

_**Oh it wasn't.**_The voice within his soul assured him, _**Why would I do something like that?**_

He sighed. He knew exactly what kind of person he was, just as he knew exactly what kind of spirit lurked within his cane.

_**You are the kind of man who would train the son of a friend, a young man whom you've sworn to protect, so that he might die in a way that would gain you the greatest advantage. And I love that about you.**_

Blowing out a breath, and feeling his wretched soul twisting as he did so, he nodded once before raising his voice in a shout. "All right, let's get this show on the road. Oi! Tessai!"

His old friend poked his head through the hole in the underground chamber's ceiling.

"Get down here, need you to work on something!" Before he got to the end of "something", the mustachioed kido-master had flash-stepped in front of him. Not even blinking, he continued on, "You remember your old demon arts?"

"Of course boss." the larger man sounded insulted at the question.

Cocking his head, he glanced pointedly at the gate. "We're going to need gates to a lot of places Tessai. We both know how to open a Garganta, but there's still the matter of getting to the other cities."

"Hmmm..." a massive hand reached up to scratch a chin, "I see. You meant do I remember the forbidden arts. Yes, there are a few that could help you out here. I'll see what I can do."

"Great!" he clapped his hands together, "If you could work on that, I've got some stuff that old man Yama wants me to work on, and apparently an info-dump to give to the kids."

Yoruichi cackled, "Come on now, you love watching his face contort while he tries to figure things out. It's like watching Isshin all over again."

He chortled a bit at that, and ignored further twisting within his heart, remembering those good old days, when Isshin had first abandoned his post. "Those were the days…"

"They were." a slim hand whacked him across the head, "Now stop procrastinating and get to work."

* * *

_Urahara's Notebook, Page 3,954_

_Atlantis. Even mentioning the name is enough to get the older Captains shivering, and to make the old man furious. From what I gather, they were put in charge of keeping the hollows away from Europe and Africa, along with the Middle East. All my attempts to go there personally ended up with nothing, so I had to off of ancient notes and drunken recollections that I got out of Hirako and Shunsui._

_Apparently they've got a thing for modern human living, and have an entire division dedicated to keeping up with the latest trends in technology and architecture. Hirako said he kept getting lost in the districts because the scenery would change from modern houses to Roman columns to cathedral style mansions._

_They also don't care much for the organization that both we and Tamoanchan follow, and apparently they told the Spirit King to "go fuck himself", Shunsui's words, when he ordered them to change. They follow a roman legion style, and have ten of them. Well, nine really. The first consists of the first captain and their guard, who are apparently what we would consider upper-level lieutenants or even captains in waiting. Note: in corresponding with the roman theme, an evolved form of latin is their primary language. _

_Like Tamoanchan's, their zanpakotou also don't quite function the same way as ours do. But where we have two, the Guard have one, the Legions have _five _levels of release. Basic, Grown, Standard, Revealed, and Full. The first three would all correspond to a shikhai of varying strength, while the latter two equate to an immature and mature bankai. Another note, apparently their equivalent to the command "Bankai" is "Reveal yourself"._

* * *

_Ichimaru's Notebook: The Old Shaman_

_That old man put up a hell of a fight. Heh, Aizen's tryin' to be all calm an' collected, kinda hard ta do though, given how many bandages he's got. 'Course he's better off than dear ol' Tosen, he's probly happy he can't see outta his left eye anyways. The earthquake was a nice tough I think, that one Atlantean didn' expect that building to collapse on his head._

_Sounds like dear ol' Sousoke is gonna hol' up in Los Noches for a bit, try and fix that left arm 'fore the next round. He's leavin' me here in the city to keep an eye on things... lookin' forwards to it._

* * *

**Next up is Chapter 2: ****Reveille**

This is a partial rewrite of the story, cleaning up a lot of the minor problems and streamlining it into larger chapters.

While this is a story of ancient grudges mixed with modern ambition, it's also going to focus a lot on the characters themselves. I often find that I don't agree at all with how some characters (Ichigo, looking at you), are portrayed, and want to show my personal take on them.

**Please, please review!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Reveille**

* * *

"_Sometimes, the best thing a Captain can do is shut up, step back, let the Tribunes give the orders, and let the Centurions execute those orders." _~ _Captain Bast, to Captain Nona Avitus_

* * *

**The Next Morning, Second Ring of Atlantis**

Tier Harribel, formerly the _Tercera Espada_, now _Legatus Legionis _of the 8th Legion, was having a difficult time adjusting from Hueco Mundo to Atlantis.

She had thought that Los Noches might prepare her for living in the Soul Society, that being around her equals for the first time in centuries would get her more acclimated to social contact. But it didn't seem that the past decade had done anything to prepare her for... _this_.

Hueco Mundo was a place of emptiness, the desert sands burying the lesser hollows and menos, leaving only an expanse of waste for those of her station to experience. But here...Atlantis was a place of _life. _The energy around her was not quiet, was not stale, but rather _chaotic. _It shifted and changed with every moment, rippling across her senses delightfully.

"Captain? Are you all right?" A quiet male voice spoke behind her.

Not even bothering to glance at her newest subordinate, she moved closer to railing, staring off of the balcony. Before her... was _her_ Legion. _Her _compound. The sight... the knowledge... it was intoxicating. Beneath them, most of her troops were going through their morning routines. Bellowing Centurions were directing various formations through swordsmanship, hand-to-hand, and simple endurance training. From what she understood, flash steps and magical practice would take place in a few hours. And all of it… all of them... were now _hers_.

"Is the armor bothering you again ma'am?" the man spoke again, his voice calm but concerned.

"Shut it Atlantean! Can't you see she's deep in thought?" Mila-Rose practically bellowed, her tone angered.

She held a hand out negligently to calm her _fraccion,_"It is fine Tribune."

More than her surroundings were new, her new allies had fashioned her a new wardrobe as well, a more practical one than she was used to. The easy white clothing that Aizen had provided for them in Los Noches was gone, replaced with western style fatigues, loose black slacks and shirts. Atop them was fastened an armored breastplate, with more pieces of the strange alloy protecting parts of her legs and arms. The metal itself was a deep grey, giving it a rather grim look. Hers was slightly different from that of her _fraccion_, the neck region more loosely fitted so that it did not damage her mask when fastened tightly.

"It is designed to absorb your spirit energy over time. Wear it for a few weeks and it will be tough enough to turn away most unsealed blades." the old smith who had fitted her had said, seemingly unconcerned that he was making equipment for a hollow, "It'll be uncomfortable for a couple of days, until your body gets used to it."

Uncomfortable was perhaps an understatement. To one as used to her power as herself, it had felt like heavy weights attached to her limbs and chest, the metal leaching her strength from her into itself. It had been extremely difficult to keep it on, and not tear it away from her as her instincts screamed that she was being weakened.

"Tribune, I did have a question on the armor." Sung-sun asked quietly, a hand lightly touching the hilt of her blade. "What will happen when we utilize our _Resurrección_?"

Careful not to touch her without permission, the young-seeming man took a step closer to the petite Arrancar, and then indicated the straps holding it in place. "The clasps are keyed to your spiritual power. They're usually keyed to release if your energy spikes to certain levels, that way the armor won't harm you if you're full releases interfere with it."

Harribel narrowed her eyes, "That is unacceptable. I could still utilize it in my released form, as could they."

He frowned slightly, but then nodded, "I believe I remember a similar situation a few decades ago… I will contact the Legion Magi, with your permission."

"You have it." she paused, "Thank you Tribune MacKean."

Turning, she looked at him, taking in his appearance once more. Maybe half an inch under six feet, he was thin, with a perpetually bored expression matching an annoyingly soft voice. When they had first been introduced, she had thought he offered her some form of insult by speaking as quietly as he had. It wasn't until later that she realized that he simply had a soft voice, and actually had to rely upon magic to make his voice heard during sparring drills. A plain _spatha_ rode at his side, while the purple stripes on his pant legs indicating his former position as a Praetorian Guardsman. He had only been her direct subordinate for a few days, and she knew very little of him as an individual.

_Still, he is nothing if helpful and efficient, though it remains to be seen if that is who he truly is._

A fist rose to his heart in salute, "My pleasure ma'am. I will do so at once."

Turning as he left, she resumed her quiet watch over her new territory.

"He creeps me out." This was Apache, and she didn't have to turn to know that she was staring after the departing male. "His aura... I don't like it. He smells.. wrong."

"What, you're afraid of the little legionnaire Apache?"

"_What did you just say bitch_?"

"Calm yourselves. Honestly, stop making a scene."

Tuning out her subordinates, she slowly reached out, silently reveling in the sheer _life_ around her yet again. For as far as she could sense, there were souls. _Millions_ of souls. Maybe even _billions_ of souls. And not the types that she had long grown used to, turned pathetic with fear, hunger, rage. No…these were _normal, _a state of existence that she had long ago forgotten could even exist. They were just simple souls going about their afterlives in the shadow of the outer wall, beyond the great river than encircled the heart of Atlantis. And within those walls were the legions.

She breathed deeply, now barely aware of the constant bickering behind her.

_I can smell... so many of them... not just the empty desert sands..._

Her tribune's unusual aura pulsed once as he noticed her roaming attention, but he continued on his trek towards the nearby barracks. The other _tribunes_ under her command likewise paused for just a moment, sensations of fiery wind and cool water rippling across her skin before they turned their attentions back to the matter at hand. Below her, the scent of her Legion was intoxicating. Nearly two thousand warriors, all with some spiritual power to their names, exerting themselves... it was… _incredible._ And further away, the other Legion Captains blazed with power, beacons of energy even amidst the thousands they commanded. Each was like a small sun, torrents of constrained energy that she could have felt even leagues away.

Focusing herself, she let her senses stretch deeper, behind her, into the innermost circle, the great fortress of Atlantis. There... the ever shifting pulse of Lord Aizen, still powerful beyond measure despite his wounds. The slithering energy of Sir Gin lurked nearby her lord, the serpent patiently waiting for something. Nearby were the suppressed energies of the Praetorians, moving slightly as they patrolled their walls. Thankfully, both Sir Tosen and Lady Captain Bast were absent, away to Hueco Mundo on some errand or another. She cared little for either of them, though the latter had earned her respect.

And nearby... almost _lurking_... she frowned as she sharpened her focus, _What is _he _doing here?_

Interrupting her thoughts, Sung-Sun slowly approached her mistress, her own senses stretching out. "It is incredible, isn't it my lady?"

"It is." She agreed easily.

"I still can't believe we're here... we're really _here_."

"I know."

"Are you hungry my lady? It's been so long since we've had food that wasn't... you know."

She did know. Though neither she nor they had consumed human or even hollow souls in decades, the temptation was always there, as much a part of her as her mask or hollow hole. And while her baser instincts were screaming at her to leap from her perch, to descend upon the troops before her and feast upon them, to do so was to die, in more ways than one.

Privately, she doubted that Aizen would have really cared, but the Atlantean Captains had made it _extremely_ clear that they would not tolerate such behavior from their new allies. Most had been unsure enough of allow a trio of Arrancar to take command of the Legions whose Captains had fallen in battle.

_Or injured, in my case._

Though Pelagius of Atlantis had survived her wounds, she had freely admitted that her ability to wield a blade was vastly reduced. It might be decades before she could retake a combat post. Still, nothing was wrong with her mind, and so she had transferred to take command of the Legion Magi, allowing Harribel to move into her place.

Behind her, the other two women had heard what Sung-sun had said, and were reacting as she expected to those memories.

Mila-Rose shuddered, "Ugh. What the Lady Captain did to Yammy... yuck. I'm gonna have nightmares for a while."

"They can put him back together. I think..." Apache said quietly, before shaking as well. "But I know what you mean. Even by our standards... ew."

Waving a hand out, she glanced over the three of them. "Get yourselves some food. Explore the compound while you're out."

"Harribel-sama, did you want us to bring you something back?" Apache frowned.

Shaking her head, she returned to the railing. "I am content."

"Yes, my lady." the three drifted out. She had no doubt that they would resume their arguments before they cleared the hallway. Tracing their presences, she waited for them to drift further away before speaking again. "You may come up now."

A slight _boom_ shook the air as Nelliel and Ulquirra appeared side by side, no more than a yard away from her. The latter looked the same as ever. He had apparently shunned the local's offering of armor and new clothing, as he was still dressed in his plain cloth. Nelliel, in contrast, seemed overly excited to be there, tapping at her armor like shouldn't believe it was attached to her.

But it was Ulquiorra whom she addressed. "You aren't staying."

"There is no need for me to remain." as usual, he spoke without expression, and completely misread what she had actually been telling him. "As Sir Tosen reminded me, I would not serve our lord and master to my best ability if I remained here. I will be returning to Los Noches with Lord Aizen, to act as his bodyguard during his recovery."

She raised a blonde eyebrow, this was news to her. "He is returning to Hueco Mundo?"

Nelliel nodded her head, green hair flowing. "Yep. He doesn't trust Barragan not to try something while he's away. He told me he's going to spend most of his time in Los Noches, and leave Sir Ichimaru and Captain Bast here to act in his stead."

"Only until the Octava Espada gets the communications system working," Ulquiorra interrupted, "Then he will be able to travel freely between his two thrones."

Tier shook her head, _Ulquiorra, of us all, you are one of the easiest to read._ "You don't trust Lady Captain Bast."

"No."

"Aizen trusts her."

"She is still a soul reaper."

Nelliel interjected herself into the conversation, shaking her head, "Ulquiorra, you don't get it. He _trusts_ her."

"She is still a soul reaper." he flicked his dead eyes between them, and then settled on addressing her. " _Legatus Legionis _Harribel. Lord Aizen will be leaving within the hour. He informed me to communicate this to you, as well as instructing you to obey both Captain Bast and Sir Ichimaru unless they go against his express wishes."

_It's sad that he doesn't realize that Aizen is just amusing himself, making the Seguenda Espada deliver messages like a common errand-boy._ _"_I have received your message. You may depart." _Then again... it's also a message to me, telling me that if he can reduce a Vasto-Lorde like Ulquiorra to delivering messages..._

Though she had been ranked higher than the pale demon, they both knew who would have won a battle between them. Ulquiorra knew where to strike to cause her pain, knew _who_ to kill to cause her agony, where he himself had no such weakness. He would kill her _fraccion_, expressly to make her lose control, and then wait contentedly until her rage left her open. He was the consummate hollow, a creature with no fear, no hate, and no emotion.

_No heart._

He had transcended the instincts within him, but had not bothered to replace them with anything else.

She turned away from him, ignoring the flat stare he continued to give her. A few breaths later, without a word, he vanished in a burst of _sonido._

"Are you all right sister?" She glanced at Nelliel, whose wide eyes were looking her over with concern. "You look like you didn't like what he told you."

"I didn't." she responded flatly.

Her equal gave her a small smile, "Neither did I. Do you mind if I stand with you for a while?"

She shook her head, her fellow Arrancar taking a place beside her.

"So," the green-haired woman bounced on her heels once, "You seem better."

Cocking her blonde head, she arched an eyebrow at the other arrancar.

"More..." a thoughtful pause, "Alive."

She snorted through her mask, "More human you mean." Nelliel's philosophy was well known to her, but more importantly it was one that she mostly agreed with. Lord Aizen had given back to them something precious, and to continue to act like mindless, bestial hollows was a waste of that gift. Acting like an automaton, as Ulquiorra did, was also a waste of it, in her opinion anyway. "I'm surprised you gave up your... _project _to come here."

Nelliel shifted, her pleasant expression fading into one of discomfort. "Nnoitora…he will have to find his own path."

"With you gone, what little progress you've made will likely be lost."

A sigh came from her companion. "I know, but he wasn't ready to come here."

Her mouth curled into an unseen smile, "And you wanted to."

"Could _you_ have turned this opportunity down?"

"Of course not," She turned away once more, closing her eyes. "Nor could I deny them this chance."

"I understand." Nelliel spoke quietly, no doubt thinking of her own _fraccion_, the strange duo that she did so much to protect. "Oh well. I should get back to my own legion before those two do something crazy. Take care, sister."

Harribel gave her another nod, and watched as the other woman vanished into _sonido_. Losing herself in thought, she returned to her vigil, watching over her Legion below.

* * *

_"Your obedience to those pathetic nobles cost us Arthur Pendragon, four additional Captains, and saw the complete destruction of four divisions of our people. Of the remainder, we're sitting at more than fifty percent casualties. So when you offer me your condolences, Juushiro Ukitake, I offer you this: Go to fucking hell, and never show your face here again." ~ _Bast, Captain of Division 3, aftermath of Quincy Wars

* * *

**Two days later, the Citadel of Atlantis**

Coyote Starrk, former _Primera Espada, _currently the _Legatus Legionis_ of the Sixth Legion, glanced at the growing crowd around him.

"Any idea what this meeting is about?" he didn't have to raise his voice to be heard, Lilynette and he could always hear one another.

"Dammit Starrk, weren't you paying attention?" A tiny fist impacted his leg, his other half throwing a small tantrum at his typical inattentiveness. "She said it was to prepare for our first attack on the Gotei!"

He felt his shoulders shrug, "Oh yeah."

_That does tend to explain why everyone is here. _Besides themselves, it seemed that the other Captains were mostly present, or arriving, most of them attempting to at least appear relaxed. Trailing behind them were their senior Tribunes, whom he had been led to understand were basically their second in commands.

"They are." Lilynette hit him again. "Try and pay attention this time huh? I can't do all the thinking for us."

Reaching behind him, he patted her on the mask. "All right, all right." he glanced around. "The guys in the purple, they're the guard, aren't they?"

"Yeah. The five of them are Lady Bast's personal division. I heard that Harribel's tribune was one, but he got transferred to help her rebuild her legion after it got beat up in the invasion." she murmured, glancing up at them, "I also heard they didn't like him much. Dunno why, he seemed nice enough when I met him."

"Hnh." he gave them a long look over, breathing deeply. All five were standing in a small group near the head of the table, apparently chatting with one another. They'd have looked like any other group of officers save for the fact that their clothing was a deep purple in color, rather than the black that everyone else was . Oh, and the fact that they were all wearing undecorated great helms, concealing their faces. "They're strong. Stronger than most of the _fraccion_."

"Marcus told me that they're usually viewed as captains-in-training. They got the power, just maybe not the experience."

"Or they have the experience but not the release level." He vaguely remembered someone saying to that effect. "Who's Marcus?"

This time she jumped as high as she could to slam her fist into his cheek, "He's _our_ senior Tribune you moron! Be glad I told him he could stay behind!"

"Oh. Him. Right." he had no idea who she was talking about. _I probably should get to know the troops._

Anything that his other half was going to say after that was interrupted when the Lady Captain entered. He had no idea why she had taken the title that she did, but he did know that the reason she kept it was because everyone was too terrified to make big deal about it. Even as strong as he was, _that_ was not one that he would cross willingly.

Bast had dark skin, and a middle-aged appearance, though that really meant nothing. Like the other Captains, as well as himself these days, she had on the partial plate armor typical amongst the at first glance, there seemed to be little to set her apart from her so-called peers.

_Then you feel her power._

Even now, limited as it was, he could feel her letting tiny amounts of it escape, to announce her presence as it were. The conversation in the room abruptly ceased, legionnaires and arrancar alike swinging around to face her by simple reflex. When someone with _that_ much power wanted your attention, you damn well gave it. Aizen used the same trick all the time, whenever he felt like the _Espada_ needed to notice his arrival.

Lilynette's voice intruded into his mind, _You really think that she and Aizen are...?_

_Probably,_ his shoulders rose and fell slightly,_ Not that I care much._

"Greetings to you, my captains. Please, let us sit." Aizen's regent slid into her own seat at the head of the table, waving a hand idly at the other chairs. "And let us enjoy some tea before we begin."

_You think that she learned that from him? Or did he learn it from her?_

_I have no idea. _His shrugged minutely again,_ Figure out which one of the two is older and you'll get your answer_.

Heading to his designated chair, he collapsed limply into it, vaguely aware of Lilynette and the other subordinates taking their own seats around the edges of the room. Around him, the other Captains began to take their own seats.

To his left, Harribel sat primly, barely offering him a glance. Across from her was Nelliel, who gave him a bright smile. An extremely pale, lanky man settled into the chair opposite him, giving him a tiny nod before turning his attention to Nelliel, engaging her in conversation. At the opposite end of the table from Bast, Gin Ichimaru practically flopped into the cushioned seat, giving him a cheerful wave that he ignored. The other non-hollows, for the most part, gave him a few looks but seemed less than interested.

_So strange. A mere century ago, they would have leaped all over each other to try and kill us. Now we're sitting amongst them, equals... and we're barely a curiosity._

Directly to his right, he got a longer glance from a woman taking the chair next to him, her appearance that of early middle age. Her black hair was drawn back to reveal a severe face, marred only by scars that highlighted the eye-patch over her left eye. An emerald eye regarded him with interest, and her mouth twitched once as he noticed her attention.

He blinked when she held a hand out to him. "Nona Avitus, _Legionis Legatus_ of the Fourth."

"...Coyote Starrk. Sixth." his hand moved slowly, and he blinked again as they shook once.

"So, you're the Coyote. I thought so." she examined him again, her hand curling to support her chin as she not quite _stared_ at him.

One of his eyebrows rose, and so she elaborated. "I was part of the team that went into Hueco Mundo after the Quincy War, looking for Drakul."

"Oh yeah." he remembered _that_ particular time in history just fine. He'd worked long and hard to stay out of it, and had ended up having to fight a few of his less-than-intelligent equals to get them to realize that he was not going to become involved. "I remember that creep, he spent most of the war trying to get the rest of us to follow him to Earth for one reason or another." he yawned, "What ever happened to him?"

An olive-skinned finger tapped the eye-patch, and her grin became vulpine, "_I_ happened to him."

"Ah." He felt his guard go up slightly. Anyone that could have taken out that ancient creature was someone with strength, a lot of it.

"He was trying to make a run for your territory actually. My tribunes and I caught up with him near the edges of it. Bastard died hard, kept trying to get past us. I guess he thought you'd help him."

"He thought wrong." Even two centuries after his death, even thinking about the cadaver-like _Vasto Lorde _started to wake and rile him up. The bastard had been ancient, strong, and utterly ruthless. If not for his strange… _addiction_ to devouring living human's souls, he probably would have eventually unseated Barragan as the 'king' of Hueco Mundo. Such a thing would have been bad for him. Where Barragan had learned early on to leave him the hell alone, Drakul had never quite taken the hint.

"Good to hear. Ah, thank you." a servant had just handed her a cup of tea. She inclined her head politely to him, and then busied herself preparing it.

Accepting his own cup, he let himself inhale the aroma before casually setting it in front of him. A few of the others had been chatting softly as the drinks were served, the last to quiet down were Nelliel and an old woman next to her.

"Now that everyone has had their tea, let us begin." Bast idly set her cup aside, "The purpose of our meeting here today is to prepare for our first maneuvers against the Seireitei, the remnants of the Guard of Tamoanchan, and whatever other allies that the King can drag into his shadow."

Her hands steepled in front of her, elbows resting on the table as she glanced across at them all. "Unfortunately, we will not be able to replicate our previous assault. The primary gates connecting our city to theirs have already been cut, and their magi have reinforced the barriers to prevent us from re-opening them anywhere near the city itself. In light of this, we must concentrate on our secondary goals, until the time comes where we can complete Lord Aizen's primary objective."

_And her objective._ He might have been socially stunted after centuries of loneliness, but he wasn't naïve. Or stupid for that matter.

Bast and Aizen were two sides of the same coin, quite happily using each other, one for revenge, the other for ambition. But once that revenge had been satisfied... did she actually care for Aizen in some way? Would she remain loyal to him? He honestly had no idea. And as much as he owed Aizen for granting him companionship, for letting him come here, to have the chance to be more than what he was... _Ah well, deal with that when the time comes._

"The creation of the King's Key, and the death of Yamamoto, will have to wait until winter, when the orb awakens fully from its seal. We must instead concentrate on weakening the strength of their armies, probe for weaknesses wherever we can. To that end, we will begin launching raids shortly."

A hulk of a man was sitting at Bast's left, and he leaned forwards, jaw jutting forwards. "Into the Soul Society or into the Living World?"

"Both, Nelos." Casually, she drew a small orb from her pocket, flicking it with a single motion of her hand to the center of the table. He watched in bemusement as it suddenly ceased its motion, hovering above them, before beginning to project images on the table before them. "Lord Aizen has ordered Tosen to begin leading raids into the world of the living. The Espada and the forces following them will harass whatever units the Gotei have dispatched there. We will begin launching raids on the outer districts of the Rukongai."

_Raids huh. _He straightened slightly, glancing into her eyes, "Raids with what objective Lady Bast?"

"To draw out whatever units of the Gotei that we can, and bring them to battle. Once their forces have been properly tested, we will withdraw. If it is possible, luring them into _our_ territory would be even better. Fighting a defensive campaign would enable us to tie down the vast majority of their army."

"How do we get their attention?" a few of the other Captains were glancing at him, no doubt thinking that he was far over-stepping his bounds, pushing her along in his very first meeting.

If she felt any annoyance however, she didn't show it. "The Gotei is horrific at properly combing their outer districts for souls with power. We will advance through their territory, conscripting any souls in our path."

He nodded slowly. It was simple, but it could to be effective. It was likely that the soul-reapers would attack them on general principle, but if they held back for whatever reason, the idea of losing their own potential recruits wouldn't be something they would be able to ignore.

"We will be deploying two legions directly to the task at hand, with a third remaining there to defend the portal openings. Two more will be stationed on our end to act as reinforcements if needed." she glanced at each Captain as she gave her orders. "Tier Harribel, Nona Avitus. Your Fourth and Eight Legions will carry out the primary advance. Eminrich," the pale man across from him glanced down at her, long salt and pepper hair shifting, "the Fifth will defend the portals. Coyote Starrk, Nelos. The Second and the Sixth will be our reserves. The strike will occur as soon as our Magi have stabilized the gates, currently they're estimating two weeks until this occurs. "

Nelliel raise a hand slowly, "What about the remainder of us?"

"Nelliel, Parker, Lyre, Priscus. You four will be meeting with me tomorrow to begin planning for our second strike." her eyes flicked around the room again. "We must engage the Gotei, and begin to bleed them, but we must be cautious of casualties ourselves. If Yammamoto takes to the field, and I or Lord Aizen are not present, you are to withdraw at once."

There was a rumbling murmur of assent that he didn't bother contributing to.

"Very well, you are all dismissed. Harribel, Avitus. I expect your battle plans by tomorrow evening at the latest."

_What a pain..._ groaning to himself, he rose to his feet and began to shuffle out, Lilynette bouncing off her chair to follow in his wake. _I guess that was one advantage of being in Los Noches. There at least, I could just sleep all day. Here I'm stuck actually doing work._

"I must ask, do you always look like you'd rather be sleeping?"

"Hmm?" he turned, not slowing. That Avitus woman was following him, olive face drawn into a curious frown. "I suppose so."

"It's strange." Her voice came out as a murmur, her head cocking to one side.

"Eh? What is? And who are you?" Lilynette stopped walking, setting her hands on her hips.

The woman's mouth twitched. "You know full well who I am, _Vasto Lorde_, and I am following you because I wish to talk."

Lilynette went perfectly still, surprise radiating through her and into him.

"Just because this eye is covered does not mean it is blind" a hand tapped her eye-patch, a cool smile gracing her lips, "You will find many things hidden here, _Primera Espada, _and many things that reveal what is thought secret."

"Tch. You are one scary lady." his other half gave the Captain her best Gin Ichimaru impression.

To his intense surprise, Avitus actually _bowed_ at the comment. "Please, there's no need for flattery. Let us resume walking towards your Legion."

_Calm down Lilynette. This is the one that killed the old vampire._

_She killed him!? Heh, maybe we should introduce her to Ulquiorra. Maybe finding his first master's killer would crack that shell of his. Then again, Barragan might give her a medal for killing off his rival, then the two of them could fight over what to do with her, and she could kill the winner for us!_

Ignoring her mental rant, he inclined his head, turning to resume his way. "I thought you had to prepare your Legion."

"My subordinates can handle it. If they couldn't, then what would be the point in having them?" she blurred into motion before re-appearing next to him, "What I wanted to talk about was _your_ Legion, actually."

"What about them?"

She sighed, "Starrk, let's face it, you're not really Captain material. I've been observing you from a distance, and listening. You've got power, and I know you're hell on wheels when you actually focus on a fight, but you've barely done anything since you've arrived."

For some reason, the words stung slightly, though she gave him no room to speak up, "Harribel and Odelschwanck have both integrated very well, and show every sign of being able leaders in their own way. Given some more time, I'm confident to say that no one would really notice that they were even Arrancar anymore. But you've kept your distance; letting only half of you interact with your people."

"...And?"

"I want to know why."

He glanced at her, then turned his gaze back to the front, thinking.

_Coyote.. maybe I should-_

_No...It's fine. Let me think._

The scarred woman seemed content to give him all the time in the world, merely matching his stride as they left the Citadel, turning towards the bridge that would take them to the next ring.

"You said that you were near my territory?"

"Yes."

He nodded slowly, "Did you see the mounds?"

He felt her aura stir with confusion, "Yes. I had assumed they had attempted to enter your domain and died."

"They did. But I made no effort to kill them." he left it at that.

"Ah." Avitus seemed to pick up what he meant with right away, "You had no control over your energy, and it crushed them."

That earned her a single nod, and they walked in silence for a while more.

"How long were you like that?" She regarded him thoughtfully with her one eye, "It must have been centuries."

"Something like that." Lilynette murmured for them, her tiny shoulders shrugging.

"I believe that I understand." A quiet sigh, "May I give you some advice?"

"If I say no, would it matter?"

The air shifted, the air taking a metallic edge to its scent as she growled darkly, stopping in place. "I am a woman of honor, Coyote Starrk, if you do not wish my advice, I will not give it."

Both he and Lilynette paused, turning to face in her surprise.

"Go ahead." He spoke, blinking at the sudden change.

"Do not remain aloof. You may have been a hollow, and perhaps you still are. But you have the opportunity to become something more." A hand fell to her sword, and slender fingers drummed the hilt, "And if you can do that, perhaps you can be a Captain worthy of the troops you lead."

Translation, grow up and take care of my people or I'll fucking kill you.

His head nodded slightly, and her fingers fell away from her blade.

"Good." She turned, as if to leave, but then paused, "And try to actually remember their names, would you?"

"I'm working on it." it came out defensively, which made him wince mentally. Here he was, a _Vasto Lorde_ powerful enough to split his own soul, to become an arrancar on his own without Aizen's orb, defending his inability to even remember the freaking _names_ of the people under his command.

"Very good," she gave him a sly smile, seemingly knowing _exactly_ what was happening in his head, "Do keep working on it, and try not to have your other half do everything. After all, in the eyes of your troops, she is merely your subordinate."

He heard and felt Lilynette groan at that.

Avitus chuckled, "I will leave you be at that. I would, however, highly suggest that you speak with either of your arrancar compatriots as to how they are adjusting. Perhaps they can teach you something"

"I'll think about it."

She inclined her head, and began moving, calling back over her shoulder as she moved. "Oh, one more thing."

He paused as well, "What?"

"Did you want a new blade?" an arm stretched back, a finger pointed towards the katana at his side. "Since that isn't your soul-blade, we can forge something new for you."

"I'll think about it."

She laughed, her one eye twinkling before she vanished in a flash-step.

Watching her go, he sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Let's go Lilynette, I guess I should try and wake up now. Maybe try and enjoy this life that Aizen has given us."

* * *

"_Our glory is personified by the four great noble families, our order is maintained by the guiding hands of the Central 46, and our strength is in the arms of the Gotei 13. So shall this trinity forever stand, to maintain the sanctity of our ways, and to preserve our honor." ~ The Spirit King, before ascending to his palace_

* * *

**The Next Day, the Seireitei**

Sui-feng stalked through the halls of the First Division, furious about the lack of progress that had been made.

_**Calm down Shaolin! At least something got resolved today!**_

_I will NOT be calm about this! The only thing they decided was what divisions would defend the living realm and which ones would defend the Soul Society! There's no comprehensive battle plan yet, much less any visible effort between the other Captains to prepare for war! Then the old man muttered something about a task force, made up of who I don't know, and sent us on our way!_

And as much as that knowledge infuriated her, what was worse was that she understood _why _they were having such a difficult time working together.

_Damn the souls of Central 46!_

The old fools, their own powers atrophied, had planned well to make sure that no one could rise against their rule in the Spirit King's name. Yamamoto was the only one with the raw power to do it by himself, and he was loyal to them, or at least, to the idea of them. Which meant all they had to do was ensure that the various squads of soul-reapers could not easily band together to overwhelm either him or the court itself.

_This, naturally, means that we're suffering from centuries of ingrained rivalries, disdain, and a complete lack of training on how to support multiple squads all needing to operate at once._

Looking back at it, she cursed herself for not seeing the idiocy of it all before this war began. If a hollow showed up, then a soul reaper was sent to purify it. If it was too strong, then a stronger warrior was sent, and so on and so forth. The process worked wonderfully well at training elite level warriors, sublimely capable in one on one duels. And anyone who couldn't hack it at that style of combat, well, they didn't last long, or they were quietly shuffled off to the fourth division.

_Somehow I doubt that Aizen will be courteous enough to let us fight that way. At least the Guard is better off than we are._

The warriors from Tamoanchan, though trained in a similar manner to their own, had learned the lesson she was trying to impress on the others the hard way: by having their city obliterated. All of the reports she had heard from their surviving officers indicated that they were preparing for crash courses in large, organized combat as soon as they all arrived in Japan.

_But because their Captains aren't here yet to help me argue the point, everyone else just rolls their eyes at me!_

_**Well, at least they'll be able to help once they do get here, right?**_

_It will be by far too late by then._

The old man had dismissed her concerns out of hand, insisting that the 'superior martial skill' of their soul reapers would be sufficient for the task at hand. Komamura, of course, accepted what the old man had to say. And of course, the Kenpachi as well as the clown had openly mocked her. Of the rest, only Ukitake and Kyoraku seemed to fully understand what she was saying.

"Captain Feng?"

_Three steps behind, to the right. Tepid aura, feels like water. The lieutenant who brought the tale of Tamoanchan. Ahiga, I believe._

"Yes Lieutenant?" she paused, glancing behind her.

The man was of average height, meaning that he practically towered over her. His skin was a reddish tan, probably a result of mixed blood somewhere in his soul's living past. Tired eyes and a narrow face made him resemble Izuru Kira in a way, except with a far more practical hair style.

"I heard that that a Captain was going to the world of the living, to help organize my comrades." his Japanese was rough but passable, which was probably why he had been chosen to be the sole survivor when the last holdout had fallen.

"Yes." she knew what he was asking, "You are looking for Captain Hitsugaya of the Tenth Division. His division has been assigned to aid your people in defending the living realm."This, as much as it pained her to admit, was probably a good decision. Though he was the youngest Captain by far, Hitsugaya had plenty of raw power, and had a good head on his small shoulders. That his division typically was assigned to cover southern Japan also helped, though she still wasn't quite sure why Ukitake's Thirteenth wasn't also dispatched, given that they covered the other half of the nation. All in all, it should give them better than four, maybe even five, squad's worth of troops to defend Karakura against any form of direct assault.

"Ah, thank you ma'am." he gave her an awkward bow, "Where might I find him?"

"Behind you." the Captain in question appeared directly behind him. To his credit, the Tamoan didn't reveal the slightest bit of surprise, though a hand did shoot to the hilt of his saber. "I was looking for the both of you actually."

She felt her eyes narrow, "Did you need something, Captain?"

"Ukitake wants to talk with you. He had to chase down someone else, so he asked me to deliver the message." he gave her a tiny shrug, his tone disinterested. "I don't know what about. Ahiga, you can come with me."

Turning away from them without a word, she abruptly flashed herself across to a nearby roof-top, and began flash-stepping her way towards the Thirteenth's oversized compound.

_**Oh good, something to distract you from your ranting.**_

A hand slapped the hilt of her sword sharply.

_**Ouch! What did I say!?**_

Ignoring the sword, she moved from building to building, and frowned as she felt another presence quickly flash-stepping towards her.

_Following me, approaching at speed, aura tastes like iron. _She nodded slowly, _Omaeda._

Her massive subordinate appeared just behind her, as he normally did, easily keeping up with her slow pace.

"Captain? What's up?"

"Meeting with Ukitake." She grunted, not bothering to elaborate.

"Oh, right." a crunch of a cracker entering a mouth came from behind her, "What about?"

She tossed a glare back at him.

"Right, sorry. Need me to do anything with the division?"

"Get the stealth forces into the outer districts. I want constant patrols and updates." she rifled through her memory, "The Shihoin clan owns a series of farms in district fifty. Move the remainder of the division there, and wait for my arrival."

"Yes ma'am." another crunch, then he twisted away, heading towards the division.

Shaking her head, she accelerated her pace. The man was a slob. If not for the fact that he was actually extremely competent beneath his oafish exterior, she would have booted him from her ranks decades ago. Still, she had to admit that it was mildly amusing when his opponents actually fell for his routine, and then panicked when he actually bothered to go all out.

Arriving at the Thirteenth, she paused at the wall, extending her senses. There were three powerful auras within, along with at least a pair of lieutenant strength. Narrowing her eyes, she focused herself further, letting the sensation of their energies wash into her senses.

_Splashing water...chaotic sound..groaning metal..._ Ukitake, Kyoraku, and Komamura. The last of which was agitated, letting his energy leak around sloppily, obscuring the identities of the weaker signatures. It was bad enough the she couldn't even get a good read on how many lower ranked soul reapers were even present in the compound.

Shaking her head at his lack of composure, she took the last few steps to appear before the office, ignoring the choked scream of a lower-ranked soul reaper at her sudden appearance.

"C-C-Captain... F-Feng.."

Brushing past the terrified young man, she tossed the door open with a hand and entered.

"Ah, Sui-Feng, I'm glad that Toshiro found you." Ukitake was seated behind his desk, and gave her a brilliant smile.

"Ukitake. What's this about?" she glanced around the room as she entered, evaluating the others. Komamura was staring out of a window, his massive frame still, his energy very slowly coming back under control. A futon was set against a wall, no doubt brought in specifically for its sole occupant. Kyoraku's reclined form, his straw hat covering most of his face, didn't even react when she entered.

_Lazy ass._

_**Now now Shaloin, Yoruichi said you had to work on being nicer and more approachable!**_

_Please don't speak again._

Lieutenant Ise's presence was no surprise, and she inclined her head slightly as the other woman gave her a respectful bow.

Surprisingly however, the other Lieutenant wasn't Iba, but rather Hisagi, who looked confused as to why he was present.

Apparently noting her gaze, as well as addressing Hisagi's confusion, the oldest Captain present explained the situation. "Well, the Captain-Commander assigned myself, yourself, Komamura-san, and Hisagi-san's divisions to be prepared to respond to any attacks on the outer districts, I thought it best that we meet to develop a strategy."

She nodded, striding forwards to the empty chair near the desk. "I've already begun to move my division to the fiftieth district, and sent the Stealth Force on long-range patrols."

"Ah, very good," he gave her another radiant smile. She wanted to roll her eyes. The man couldn't seem to help being cheerful about everything, it was hardly a wonder as to why most of the women who joined his division wanted to get closer to him. "I had hoped you would do something like that. I have my Third-Seats preparing the rest of my division to move out as well."

Nodding once more, she gave the Seventh's Captain a significant glance. His power was still leaking out in agitated bursts, even if he was succeeding at keeping the rest of himself under control.

"Sajin..." the older Captain sighed, "You know that Shunsui did not mean it in that manner."

The canine-man shook his head slowly, "How could you speak of him that way, he who trained you?"

A sigh emitted from the futon, "Sajin, Yama-jii is a great man, but that doesn't mean he's always right. You know that."

That earned him a slight growl, and a bit more released energy. She wanted to groan aloud, followed by preferably boxing the damn Captain's ears. The man took anything said against the old man like a personal slight, even if he knew that the other party was correct.

_Hell. Especially if he knows the other party is correct, because that just annoys him even more._

"We were hoping to establish some form of communications between our various divisions, and perhaps even being training operations between our squads." Ukitake spoke firmly, "I know that the Commander believes that we can stand as we are, but the Guard believed the same thing. The Atlanteans have changed how they fight, how they train, specifically to be prepared to fight us."

She wasn't so sure about that. From what little she knew, the Atlanteans had a long history of snubbing what the other two cities thought, but she wasn't about to interrupt.

"I... agree with Captain Ukitake." Hisagi cautiously put forwards his own opinion, shifting from foot to foot as the eyes of four Captains fell on him, "When the Ryoka invaded, well, saying we reacted poorly is a bit of an understatement, isn't it? None of the divisions worked together to capture them, and I don't know how much of that was because of Aizen… but either way, it didn't go well."

_**He's a smart one. Good looking too! Think he's worth switching sides for?**_

_Didn't I tell you not to speak?_

_**Yep! And you were polite too! I was so proud...**_

"Sajin?" Ukitake spoke quietly, "I know you aren't comfortable about this, and I won't force you or your people to go against what you believe to be right."

Komamura emitted a massive sigh, a furred hand stretching back to rub the back of his neck. "No.. you are the senior Captain present and in command, and your counsel is not one that I would through away. My apologies for my lack of control."

"It is all right old friend." the other man rose from his chair and gave his friend a bow, "My thanks."

The other Captain had the good grace to seem embarrassed, giving his superior and slow bow of his own.

_Well, now that that's finally done with. _Shaking her head, she spoke up,"Well Ukitake, since you are the senior Captain of our expedition, what is your plan?"

"If I am correct, you are moving your division to the old Shihoin farms." he waited for her to nod before beginning to rummage through his desk, eventually emerging with a map. "That is good. It has plenty of space, and many buildings. It also provides a substantial amount of our food, and so must be protected."

He rolled the scroll out across the desk, and beckoned them all to come over and look.

"We've been assigned to the northern districts, but we also have to cover our flanks. Shunsui," the pink-clad man hadn't gotten up from the futon despite Ise striking him with her book. "Has been ordered to take the Eleventh, Third, and Sixth to the southern districts. The remainder of the Gotei will remain within the Seireitei to provide support or reinforcements."

A pale finger traced a half circle, the center of which was the Shihoin farms. "I will take my division to the farms to join the Second. Sajin, Shuhei, your people will be stationed on our flanks, perhaps a quarter of the way towards the North-South divide."

The tattooed Lieutenant and wolfish Captain both nodded, and their senior continued. "I want everyone in place by tomorrow morning. I and Sui-feng will develop a training regime, and we will begin working together as soon as possible."

She nodded slowly in approval.

_Maybe this won't turn out as badly as I feared after all._

"What did you have in mind..." she almost grimaced at what she was about to say, both Yoruichi's request and Suzemebachi's reminder echoing in her head, "..Jushiro?"

Everyone else glanced at her, both Lieutenants' mouths dropping open at her blunt informality.

"What?" she snapped at them, the walls flying back up within her mind, while her energy spiking sharply in embarrassment.

_**Well... at least you tried. Yoruichi would be proud of you for that at least.**_

_For the last time Suzumebachi, Shut Up!_

Ukitake glanced warningly around the room before giving her another smile, "Well, there are some areas of wilderness in district sixty. There is a swamp here," a finger tap, "And a rather wild forest here." another tap. "I have had reports from that area before, indicating that there may be low level hollows hiding within. I had thought we could use elements from all of our squads to eliminate them."

"That would be effective." Komamura rumbled, finally beginning to speak constructively, "My division has patrolled those areas in the past, and the hollows there should give us no trouble. We could utilize your Stealth Force as scouts, test our ability to transfer their information to all of our units during battle without high risks to our people."

The Ninth division's lieutenant gave her a sideways look, seemingly still uncomfortable before speaking up as well, "I have some communications specialists in my division. I could get working on a hell butterfly network, unless the Captain Commander will allow you to move the Inner-Court troop outside of the Seireitei? "

"No, he was firm that he needed them where they are. As for hell butterflies…" her hair shifted as she shook her head, "They're useful but far too easily eliminated."

"Maybe we could work with the Twelfth then. I've heard that Third-Seat Akon has done some work on copying the living world's communications gear." he offered instead, "I'll try to bypass Kurotsuchi if I can."

"Don't go behind his back," Ukitake spoke warningly, "If he gives you problems let me know, and I will speak with him."

Hisagi nodded, but seemed less than sure of the idea. She couldn't really blame him. Everyone who had to deal with the Research and Development group learned quickly to avoid its President, and to do everything possible to speak with the far saner Vice President alone.

_**Just cuz he's saner doesn't mean he isn't creepy! Those horn things… gah.**_

Ignoring the voice in her head, she made her own point, "Or myself. If I make it an official request from the leader of the Stealth Force, he won't be able to refuse without Yamamoto's direct authorization."

The tattooed man hesitated, and then gave her a quiet word of thanks.

"Well, good to see our little plan is working, hey Jushiro?" Kyroaku finally rose up from his futon, Ise shaking her head behind him. "Glad to see that at least half of our deployment will go well. I've got as much a chance of getting Zaraki and Byakuya to work together as I do of convincing Aizen to return for sentencing."

Komamura rumbled slightly at the mention of the Kenpachi, shaking his head. "What of Lieutenant Kira? He would follow you, would he not?"

"I'll be meeting up with him after our little get-together." broad shoulders rose and fell, "Ironically, his division is the only one really suited for this kind of fight. That was their purpose after all, much as people don't like to remember that."

Sui-Feng nodded slightly, she was more than familiar with the Third Division's origins. "But without a Captain, they'll be limited. I haven't heard that there is much support for Kira amongst his people."

"Unfortunately no, but that isn't something I can really help him with." another shrug, "We can only hope that he finds it within himself to lead them."

"He is a good officer, I'm sure he'll step up." Ukitake spoke confidently. "As far as our own deployments, does anyone have any questions?" She shook her head, her own people were already moving. Everyone else shook their head as well. "Very well then, let us begin moving. If you would all meet Shaolin and myself," it took most of her willpower not to react violently to the use of her given name, "at the Shihoin farms."

_**Hey now, you promised Lady Yoruichi that you would work on that. Small steps!**_

Still stubbornly ignoring her blade, she inclined her head to the small group, and quickly flash-stepped away.

* * *

_Urahara's Notebook, Page 3,955_

_Atlantis, despite their current state of rebellion and hatred of all things that reek of the Spirit King, maintain a similar layout. The citadel itself is unique, however. Rather than the single wall that encircles the court of pure souls, their citadel is encircled by three great moats, fed by a single river. Behind each moat lies a wall, the interior walls being correspondingly larger and more fortified than those outside. Beyond that incredible vista, however, lay the districts. From what little descriptions we have, it is likely that those nearest to the citadel likely resemble the world of the living, with towering structures providing shelter to hundreds of souls._

_Addendum:_

_It has become clear, however, after interviewing surviving members of the Soul-Guard, that they have done a much better job of exploiting the souls of their outer districts than the shinigami have done. Given that this was not observed during the Quincy Wars two centuries ago, it is likely that this is a more recent development. We can hopefully assume that this means that while they have a significant manpower advantage, the vast majority of those troops will not have centuries of experience behind them._

* * *

_Urahara's Notebook, Page 5,672_

_The Second division under Shaolin's command is easily the smallest in the Gotei. The reason is simple: as she is also the commander of the Stealth Force, the Central 46 viewed her as an existential threat to their authority and power, and worked to limit her however they could. This is especially true as they had been unable to limit Yoruichi in such a fashion. Her place in one of the four great families insulated her from their paranoia._

_Their chosen method of limitation was simple, lower the amount of recruits moved from the academy to the Second Division over the course of decades. The end result is that where most divisions operate with between six hundred to one thousand soul reapers, the second division can count itself lucky to have three hundred._

* * *

**Next up is Chapter 3: The Army Life**

In this chapter, we see a bit of life as it is in Atlantis, from the perspectives of the hollows that now live and command there. Back in the Seireitei, the Captains are struggling to coordinate and train their forces to fight against an enemy they are in no way prepared to do battle with.

In the next installment, we'll see what Ichigo and Rukia are up to, and observe as Harribel puts her Fraccion and Tribunes through their paces.

Please, please review!


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Army Life**

* * *

"_Once the hollowification process begins, there is no going back. The energy merges in such a way that extracting it becomes impossible within seconds of exposure. An inner-hollow of a lieutenant/captain level soul reaper will become sentient within a matter of days, and achieve enough strength to challenge for control over the body within a month. If exorcism is impossible, then the only avenue remaining is control... but how?" _~ Kisuke Urahara, in the wake of his exile

* * *

**That Night, Karakura Town**

The warrior soul of Ichigo Kurosaki sat on ground near the river, watching the water drift slowly past, completely lost in thought. He had left Urahara's shop less than an hour beforehand, barely aware of where his legs were taking him. The part of him that was conscious of his surroundings was unsurprised at where he had ended up, but he largely did not care, there was just so much to process.

_Legions of Atlantis.. armor that can deflect low-level attacks... strange sword releases..._Everything that Urahara had dumped on him was swirling around chaotically within his head. _I'm going to be fighting against Captains still carrying wounds from the Quincy wars. People who killed Uryu's ancestors, people who could hunt down and kill every man, woman, and child that opposed them. People who could betray everything they were supposed to stand for..._

His head lowered, staring into the grassy soil.

_And now the survivors from their betrayal are showing up._

A few had been coming and going from the shop even as Urahara briefed him and his friends. They had mostly ignored him, busy with whatever they were setting up in the training grounds below them.

_But their eyes... their faces..._

Without exception, they had been dull, lifeless. They had been moving with purpose, but it had felt like their purpose was the only thing keeping them upright.

He tried to imagine Rukia's face like that, gaunt and drawn. The nice healer who had been so polite when she kicked him out, or poor Hanataro. Tried to picture the Seireitei in flames, with hollows roving through the Rukon districts, all those people he had met lying dead while the hollows feasted…

_And all of that could happen here, just like it happened there._

He could feel a few of them, somewhere to the south, dealing with a minor hollow that had appeared, probably drawn by the increasing spiritual activity.

A sigh came from his throat. His ability to sense energy still sucked. He could tell that there was at least one or two of them, and that there was a weak hollow in that direction, but he had no idea how strong they were, or even how far away the fight was happening. Oddly enough though, it was easy to tell that they were not _shinigami. _Their energy was strong, and present, but... still off somehow, different enough that he noticed it. More…natural somehow, less personal.

_**You need more training, Ichigo. A fully trained soul reaper would be able to tell precisely what was happening, even at this distance.**_

_I know old man. Was just hoping that I could get at least some rest after what we just went through._

Zangetsu said nothing, he did not need to. Ichigo knew his blade well enough at this point to know exactly what he would have said. He was a teenager in age, but he had the power of souls centuries older than him. And Zangetsu was not a being to consider little things like his wielder's age or mental exhaustion. As far as he was concerned, either he was strong enough to save the people he cared about, or he was not. Nothing else mattered to the old man.

He sighed again. When Rukia had sunk her blade into his chest, she had changed his fate forever. He had thought when he left her in the Soul Society and returned home, that he had accepted and understood what that meant. But as the magnitude of what was coming slowly became clear, he realized that he really had had no idea what he had signed up for.

_Hell, I'm just fifteen. I should be worrying about my grades, where I'm going to college, dealing with my friends. Maybe even trying to find a girlfriend. But here I am… apparently the last line of defense between this town and the madman who wants to destroy it to make a freaking key. _A hand through his orange hair, _And that madman has an army of hollows at his beck and call, with an army of strange soul-reapers on his side. And they'd all quite happily kill me without a second thought._

Urahara's voice echoed in his head. "Ichigo… when the time comes, you can beat hollows. Even slaying the arrancar, those hollows who have achieved a human form, will still merely purify their souls, and I have faith that you can bring yourself to give the killing blow. But when the Atlanteans arrive, when the Legions are advancing on you, can you bring yourself to end another soul reaper's life?"

He had not been able to answer, and his mentor had nodded slowly at his glaring silence. "Ichigo, I know that you're young, and this is hard for you, but those people won't care about that. All they'll see is a man standing between them and their revenge on everyone who wronged them. They won't hesitate, not for a moment. If you can't defeat them, if you can't bring yourself to kill, then we may have already lost this war."

_How the hell am I supposed to... kill… people?_

Killing Aizen was one thing. He thought he could do that much, the man was a monster, someone who wanted to cause untold suffering. Barely meeting him had been enough to make him hate the bastard. After everything he had done, everything he had manipulated, and what he had personally done to Rukia and Renji.

But to kill these Atlanteans? People trying to right a wrong done to them and their friends centuries before? Admittedly the way they were going about it was wrong, and there was no way he could defend what they had done to that other city, but still...

_Can I end the lives of other human souls?_

_**Ichigo. There will come a time when it will be you, or them. When my edge is all that stands between those you protect and death. When winning the battle means killing your foes. When that time comes, you will find the strength in you to take that final blow, or you will die, and all those who rely upon you will die.**_

He sighed, nodding slowly, scowl returning to his face. _Yeah... I'll find that strength. I'll have to._

A new voice, a hideous parody of his own, echoed within his ears. _**Ha! As if! Don't worry King, you won't have to worry about shit like this for long. Unlike you, I don't lack the instinct to KILL.**_

His heart clenched in his chest, and a hand flew to his face by reflex.

_Get out of my head!_

_**Ha! Where else am I going to go, Ichigo?**_

_Shut up. Shut up. SHUT UP!_

"Hey there Ichigo." the voice came from directly behind him.

His body was twisting before he was even aware of it, Zangetsu's bandages whirling away to reveal its edge.

A slim katana slammed into his massive _shikai_ blade, the pure force behind it sending him flying backwards. His body slammed into the river, sending a massive plume of water into the air as he desperately dug in his feet, his energy responding to his physical action. The spray decreased as his body slowed, until he was standing a good dozen meters from where he had started, glaring at the figure that had sent him flying.

"What the hell was that, and who the hell are you!?" he growled, taking his sword in both hands.

"My my, Kisuke didn't tell you to expect me?" the man was tall and lanky, cropped blonde hair shifting as he frowned across the water at him. "I shoulda expected it to slip his mind."

"Oh." he lowered his guard slightly, "You're that Shin guy."

"Hirako Shinji, a Vizard." the man's face split into a broad grin, "I'm here to beat ya into shape."

Heaving Zangetsu up onto a shoulder, he frowned some more. "He said you wanted to talk to me, he didn't say you'd be training me. I thought Yoruichi would be doing that."

"Ha! That crazy cat has her own shit ta get done. Me and my friends are gonna handle it instead, doesn't that sound fun, Ichigo?"

"No. And what the crap is a Vizard? And how do you know hat-and-clogs?"

The man's smile faded slightly, his head cocked to a side. "Kisuke told me all 'bout your fight with little Byakuya. _All_ about it."

Ichigo felt himself freeze in place, his eyes growing wide. _What..._

"Let me tell you a 'lil story, Ichigo. See, a hundred years ago, there was a Lieutenant of Squad 5, who'd been trouble since he was in his momma's womb. He was lookin' to increase the strength of his followers by combinin' hollows with soul reapers." the blonde man slowly sheathed his sword as he talked, thumping the case against his shoulder as he spoke, "But ya see, he had a problem. The two sides don't get along, even at the tiny levels, unless the soul reaper has a lot o' power, buckets of it in fact. So, he lured four captains and their lieutenants out to the middle o' nowhere."

"What..." he thought he could see where this was going, and his stomach was correspondingly dropping as the history lesson continued.

"But another Captain had figured out what was goin' on, one who was fond of wooden shoes. He tried to stop it, to fix his comrades. But all he could do…" a hand lazily reached above his face. Fingers curled as if digging into something, and energy began to ripple.

He could only stand, staring in shock as a hollow mask began to appear, the white material sliding down into place.

When Shinji resumed speaking, his voice had picked up an odd, echoing quality. "All he could do was give us _control_."

_Control... _"Wait, you can _control_... it?"

"Yes." The other man's voice echoed with amusement.

"Can you teach me how!?"

A snort, "If you survive my training, you'll have control. But Ichigo," the voice turned darker, "You gotta understand somethin' kid. What are you?"

"What kind of stupid question is that!? I'm a substitute soul reaper! Now tell me how-"

"Wrong." a single pale finger shot up, wagging back and forth, "You are _not_ a soul reaper. You, Ichigo, are a Vizard."

His face twisted into its familiar frown, "I'm not interested in joining your little faction, I-"

Shinji vanished, blurring into a flash-step, and appeared less than a foot in front of him, the upraised finger lowering, tapping his chest sharply. "You don' gotta choice kid. Just by bein' what ya are, you gotta death sentence on yer head, same as us."

"What are... what… death sentence?"

Another snort echoed strangely. "Ichigo, they were gonna kill your little friend just cuz she gave her powers to a human. What did ya think they do to people who are half hollow?"

He felt his head lower slightly. "I never... really thought about it. I mean. I would have thought Byakuya would have said something..."

"The fact that he didn't is why you're still free to run aroun'." a hand waved in front of the blondes head, and the mask shattered, revealing a serious face. It didn't look natural on his features, and he had to fight not to pull several steps back. "Ol' man Yama will work with _us_ so long as this war goes on, but soon as it's over, the rules say _we_ gotta die."

"That makes no sense!" he felt his anger building, "After everything I've done for them, and all the friends I have in the Soul Socie-"

"You friends with the ol' man, Ichigo?" the other man's tone was derisive, "He's the only one that matters. With all those old morons dead, he's the judge, jury, and executioner, and he's got the power ta do it. You'd need most of the remainin' Captains all bandin' together to take him on, and most of 'em will probly die doin' it. And he's big on rules."

He just stared down, into the water drifting by beneath him._ That old man… he's that strong?_

A sigh was followed by a hand hesitantly falling onto his shoulder, "I know this is heavy shit for you kid, but we just ain't got the time to bring ya along slow. You haven' seen Aizen's release, like most of us, and you got the strength to fight 'em. We need ya."

_**HA! They need you! That's some hilarious shit king.**_

The water looked... so peaceful. Just the tiny waves, little ripples, totally ignorant of the turmoil raging just above it.

"Shinji." He rose his head, staring directly into the other man's eyes. "If I can control this hollow... inside of me... will I have the strength to fight them, even Aizen?"

_A smile that large shouldn't be physically possible._ "Even Aizen."

Fear slowly began to fade, and he looked down to where _Zangetsu_ was still held in his hands.

_Abandon your fear. Look forward. Move forward and never stop. You'll age if you pull back. You'll die if you hesitate. I can't afford to hesitate now, I can't afford to have fear. I have to move forwards, I have to control that hollow version of myself within me. And when I've beaten him... I'll have the strength to protect everyone I care about. I'll beat Aizen. I'll beat anyone that tries to hurt my friends. I won't fail. I can't._

He returned Zangetsu to his back, and gave Shinji his own slasher smile. "Then what the hell are we waiting for, let's get this show on the road."

**One hour later**

The rest of the Vizards were... different.

Shinji had led him to a warehouse in the eastern part of town, and had strolled in even as the heavy-weight door had rolled down its rails to slam shut directly behind them.

Despite the metallic crash that had sent him jumping into the air, the other visible people didn't even glance over at the pair of them. Two were reading magazines, another was tuning a guitar, and yet another was sleeping. From what he could hear, a few more were arguing about something somewhere else.

_What the... these people are the ones who are going to train me? Seriously?_

Shinji hadn't said anything on the walk over, save to tell him that hat-and-clogs would take care of his body, and give his father some excuse or another.

"All right, let's get the introductions outta the way." Shinji shrugged lazily, not even glancing back at him. "That's Rose on the guitar, former Captain of Squad Three. Love and Lisa are the ones readin', Captain Squad Seven and lieutenant Squad Eight. The big guy sleeping is Hachi, formerly the kido corps lieutenant."

That reminded him, "What squad were you from?"

"Captain, Squad Five."

_Five. _"Wait... that means that Aizen was your-"

"Yeah. Now come on, you wanted the crash course didn' you?"

Ichigo nodded, pushing his questions aside, and squatting down to stretch out a bit. "You said we didn't have time, remember? Let's get this thing going."

"Good. Firs' thing we gotta do is figure out how close ya are to losin' it." the blonde man finally turned back to look at him, "Can ya here it's voice?"

"Yeah."

"How often?"

He frowned, "Once and a while. Usually when I'm angry."

"Not constantly?"

"No."

"Hn. You got some time then. Normally we'd try and beat ya to a pulp, till the hollow got impatient and took control of ya, but if it's still mostly buried we'd probly kill ya before it got the strength to do it." the other man frowned slightly, "How close were ya before it grabbed ya the last time?"

His feet shifted uncomfortably, this was _not_ something he enjoyed even thinking about. "Very close."

"Hn. Come on then, we got our own trainin' ground." Shinji turned away again, lazily beckoning him to follow. "We got a decent livin' area setup upstairs, we'll get ya a room later."

As they moved into the warehouse, the sounds of the arguing became louder, and he could start to make out the clangs of swords impacting each other.

Descending a staircase in the middle of the floor, he was unsurprised to find himself in yet _another_ of Urahara's training rooms.

_Jeez. Doesn't the guy have a style that isn't a barren desert?_

More interesting than the scenery he was more than familiar with were the pair of women trying to kill each other.

One was dressed in what looked like a spandex suit, one that was tight enough to make him hurriedly look at her opponent, his face flushing. The other woman was dressed in a loose red jogging suit, the coat open to reveal a white t-shirt. A slim katana burned in her hands, the blade flashing as she parried her opponents slashes.

But what they had in common were the masks.

A hurried glance at, then an even more hurried glance away from spandex-girl, revealed an insectoid face, massive black eyes dominating the mask. The other girl's resembled a more traditional hollow helm, a single horn and purple markings marking it.

The third individual was a tall, well-built man, his focus entirely on a stopwatch in his hands. He was apparently the source of the shouts, as his deep voice bellowed out, "Two minutes, thirty seconds!"

"Shut up Kensei!" track-suit girl bellowed, her voice echoing much like Shinji's had, "You're distracting me!"

Shinji had stopped a few steps behind the man timing the fight, and Ichigo moved up next to him.

"What are they doing?"

That earned a glance over at him. "Hiyori, the one with the temper, she's working on her control. It's a pain to keep the masks on here."

"What do you mean 'here'?"

"Hollows ain't from the world o' the living, takes more work to summon up that kind of power here, then it would if ya were in the society or in Hueco Mundo." Shinji shrugged, "It also depends on what yer hollow is like. Hiyori's has gotta a temper, and it don' like being called up. Most times she can only keep it up for three minutes or so, enough for a fight."

He frowned, "I'm going to need it for more than three minutes."

"Yeah." a shrug, "We'll do the best we can to get ya that far. If ya get lucky, maybe you'll get to fight Aizen in Hueco Mundo. Been there once, kept my mask on for days 'for it shattered."

"How long can you keep it on here?"

"Twenty minutes." a nod at the other girl, "Mashiro is the record holder, we gave up timin' her after twenty hours. She's... an odd one."

"Yeah." another furtive glance at, then away. _Dammit Ichigo, you're not that kind of guy! "_So how-"

"GOD DAMMIT!"

"Time! Three minutes, seventeen seconds!"

The mask had shattered, apparently on its own. A youngish, freckled face was coated in sweat, a single snaggletooth visible as the girl gulped for air. Her opponent bounced up and down a few times, doing very interesting things to her chest that he desperately tried not to notice, bubbly laughter echoing creepily.

"Oi, Shinji, this the kid?"

"Yeah. Ichigo, this is Kensei, former Captain Squad Nine. Hiyori, lieutenant Squad Twelve, and Mashiro, lieutenant Squad Nine. Now that that's outta the way, you can get started. Have fun."

"Wait, what are-" On pure instinct he grabbed frantically for _Zangetsu_, barely getting the flat edge of the blade around to block the punch that rocketed towards his chest.

The girl in the skin-tight suit drew back her fist, body twisting as she threw a right kick into his side. Again, he barely got the blade in place, but this time the power was still sufficient to send him flying through the air. His body went _through_ a stone pillar, which hurt, before slamming into the ground, which hurt even more.

"Get up kid!" the silver-haired man bellowed, his voice laced with scorn. "I've got you for the next week, and we're going to beat you till we can't anymore."

Anger running through his body, he slammed his sword into the ground, using it to pull himself to his feet.

"God dammit, that's not what-" he broke off, frantically swinging his massive blade around to block yet another kick. Moving on reflex, he twisted his sword using the blunt edge to force the woman back. "-what Shinji told me!"

"You can't control the best inside of you till you can control yourself kid." the man leaped easily to the top of a nearby pillar. "You can't sense energy for shit, and your own is slopping all over the place. When you've got control of yourself and your sword, me and Mashiro are done, and Shinji and Hiyori will take over and you'll get what you want."

"Is that so, huh?"

"Pay attention silly Ichigo!" the sing song voice teasingly echoed from right next to his left ear.

_Wait, when did she get that-_ a tiny fist touched his cheek at what felt like a million miles an hour, and he was sent flying again.

_How the hell is this supposed to help me!?_

Slamming his heels into the dirt, his hands brought his sword above his head. Less than a breath later, he poured his energy into his sword, blue energy crackling, the air seeming to twist under the weight of his power.

"_Getsuga Tenshou!"_

The crescent wave of energy roared outwards, an explosion of spiritual power and dirt temporarily blinding him. Which was probably why he never saw the kick coming, the booted foot catching him under the ribs and sending him sky-borne yet again.

"God!" he hit the ground, bouncing, "Fucking!", he slammed into the earth more finally, "Dammit!"

Staggering to his feet, he glared at the masked woman, his anger rising as her echoing laughter reached him.

_God dammit. I bet Rukia doesn't have to put up with this kind of training._

Blowing out a breath, he tried to push the anger away, trying to reclaim the focus he dimly remembered having when he fought Renji and Byakuya.

_All right. These people have what I _NEED_. Just have to play along until they give me what I want, then I can decide what to do from there._

Raising _Zangetsu_ to an _en garde_ position, he allowed himself a little smile.

_Let's do this, Zangetsu._

* * *

"_There is a very good reason that most Captains look down on those who graduate from the Acadamy early. There are simply so many things that can be done with spiritual energy, most of them bad, that it takes years to impart the proper wisdom about what to try, and what not to." ~ _Retsu Unohana, after an incident involving Kaien Shiba

* * *

_**That day...**_

Rukia Kuchiki fell to her knees, desperately gulping for air, her heart thundering in her chest. It was all she could do to remain mostly upright, her limited energy draining out of her.

"Rukia! Are you ok?" Kiyone's voice echoed, as though she was further away than the few steps that she was.

_Did... it work?_

She couldn't feel her right hand. Slowly, she forced her neck to turn, letting her eyes fall on the simple katana once more clasped into her hand. The hilt, and her hand, were both coated in a thin lair of ice, while frost covered her entire right arm up to the shoulder.

_You're... back.. Sodo no Shirayuki.._

_**I never left you, dear Rukia, I was merely buried for a time. But please... don't try anything like that again soon. **_Her sweet voice resounded within her mind, and she could feel the tears leaking from her eyes. _**Now hush dear, and rest. Give yourself time to recover before you call upon me again.**_

_Thank you.. thank you... _she closed her eyes against the emotion, _thank you..._

When she opened her eyes, it was to a ceiling. Gentle sunlight was coming in through the window beside her.

_I must have passed out... it's morning already! Where is Kiyone, where did she bring-_

"That was reckless, Rukia."

Her heart clenched, and she felt her mouth go dry. _Oh no..._

When she found her voice, it was a bare whisper, "Nii-sama?"

"Attempting to jump-start your powers by having Third Seat Kotetsu transfer a portion of hers directly into your body was both reckless and irresponsible." It sounded as though he was sitting somewhere nearby. "You're lucky that you did not damage either your Soul Chain or your Soul Sleep with that stunt, considering your combined lack of experience, as well as the opposing nature of your powers." Though his tone was as bland as ever, she still wanted to wince as he repeated himself. "Captain Ukitake was beside himself with worry, and Vice Captain Kotetsu was forced to sedate her sister."

"Is Kiyone all right?"

There was a pause. "She was having a panic attack. For a few moments, your power nearly vanished entirely. She thought that you had died."

"I am sorry, Nii-sama."

There was a longer pause, though she still couldn't bring herself to look at him. "Rukia.. you did nearly die with this stunt of yours. You must swear to me that you will never do something so dangerous again."

"I swear, Nii-sama."

"Good. I must return to my division. I have Captain Ukitake's assurances that you will be kept out of combat for the next month, and Vice-Captain Kotetsu will be visiting you every other day to monitor your spiritual power's recovery." she heard him rise, and saw his stoic face appear above her. "In addition, Third-Seat Akon will be examining your Zanpakuto tomorrow to ensure that you did no damage to it."

"Yes, Nii-sama. Thank you, Nii-sama."

His expression softened slightly. "Rukia... I nearly lost you once because of my own failures. Do not make me protect you from yourself as well."

Her heart felt like it dropped into her stomach as he spoke. There was only a hint of the pain, but for him, even that little loss of control meant that he was screaming inside. "I'm so sorry.. I'm so sorry nii-sama!"

A cool hand hesitantly touched her hair. It was awkward, as though he was doing something he had long ago forgotten how to do. "It is.. all right. Remember your oath to me, and.. keep yourself safe." Without a further word, he turned, vanishing in a flash-step.

Her hands slowly slid up to her face, furiously digging into her eyes, trying to remove the tears.

"Stupid... so stupid..._stupid stupid stupid!_" her palms covered her eyes as she felt herself falling, sobs rolling through her, "_How could I have been so stupid?_ And Kiyone.. how could I have talked her into this!?"

It had been her idea, in the beginning. She had been going through every medical textbook on energy-recovery that she could find, looking for something, _anything_, that could help. Even though everyone told her that her powers would be back, probably within two or three months, that was simply too long. She did not _have_ that kind of time before the battles started, before war came. Her sword had to be back in her hand, her spirit within her mind once more, and her demon-magic had to be back at full strength.

_Otherwise.. I would just be a burden, again. A useless burden, forcing others to defend me, making Captain Ukitake leave soul-reapers out of the battle to keep me safe._

Then... then she'd had an idea. A soul reaper could transfer their powers to a regular soul by forcing their energy directly into a normal soul's Soul Sleep. Normally, one of two things would happen. If the soul was strong enough, it could absorb the energy, and utilize it until it was gone, like a battery. And if the soul wasn't... their soul sleep would be unable to absorb the power, and the soul would die as it dissolved from the internal pressure.

_But with Ichigo.. he already had latent spiritual power. When I pushed my power into him, it awakened his own. The only reason he didn't simply utilize that, instead relying upon mine, was because he didn't know any better, and had no control over his own power._

And so she had tracked down Kiyone. She was her friend, and despite her sometimes grating and worshipful personality, she had earned her status as Third-Seat, as well as consideration for the Lieutenant's post. Most importantly, she had excellent control over her powers, and could be relied on to use a precise amount.

It had taken a lot to convince her to do it. Rukia had had to practically break down and beg for her help before she caved.

And so when the Captain was busy in a meeting with Captain Sui-Feng, going over the training schedule for the next week, she and Kiyone had slipped away to find a secluded facility to utilize. Once there, she had prepared herself as the blonde woman carefully summoned a ball of energy to her hand. Once they were both sure that the level was stable, and the amount fairly small... Kiyone had shoved it into her heart.

Almost at once she could feel that it worked, the energy seeping directly into her Soul Sleep, awakening her zanpakuto's spirit from its imposed slumber. And then...then it had _hurt_. It had _burned _like nothing she had ever felt before as her awakened power and Kiyone's reacted violently to each other. Vaguely, she had been aware of herself screaming, though she was not exactly sure when that had happened. All of her focus had been within her own soul, within the tiny space that was her Soul Sleep.

It had taken nearly everything that she had to freeze that fire within her mind, to let it slowly merge with her own powers, absorbing it with as much care as she could manage. The alternative would have been to allow Kiyone's fire to explode outwards.

_Had that happened my soul sleep and chain would have shattered from the conflict. I might have lived...maybe, but I would have lost everything.._

Any further examination of her own stupidity was interrupted when a knock sounded at the door to her room.

_Even my senses are dulled right now.. if I couldn't even tell people were that close. _Frantically wiping her face with the blanket, she took a few deep, calming breaths. _Remember the lessons Rukia, you are a Kuchiki._

Normally, all she had to do to fall into the proper, noble, frame of mind was to draw upon the ice of her sword. Though she could as least _feel_ that icy wellspring once more, she didn't dare draw on it.

Exhaling one last time, she nodded to herself, and called out, "You may enter."

Her Captain entered, his normally joyful face completely serious. Kiyone shuffled in behind him, violet eyes locked on the floor. And behind them...

It took most of her self-control not to lose her expression of perfect calm as Captain Sui-Feng entered.

It was her Captain who spoke first, "Rukia."

"Captain Ukitake."

He moved to where her brother had stood just minutes earlier, staring concernedly down at her. "Are you all right?"

"I will be fine, Captain. I was able to ensure that no damage was done to myself during the process."

"Regardless, that was a highly dangerous and reckless act Rukia, not at all something that I would have expected from yourself." his tone became firm, "I have already spoken to Kiyone, and though she attempted to take the blame for you, it seemed clear that this plan was your own."

_Kiyone..._"It was, Captain."

He sighed, thin shoulders falling. "Why Rukia? Why did you have to rush things? You risked everything on Kiyone's ability to control her power, and your ability to keep it under control when it reacted against your own."

"I was tired of being a burden, Captain."

His eyes stared into her own.

"I was so tired...of being a burden on you and my-"

"Idiotic." Sui-Feng interrupted her, the equally small woman glaring at her as the Captain leaned against a wall. "Even without spirit energy you're still useful, your mind works doesn't it? Though perhaps recent evidence indicates that it does not."

"Shaolin, please." Rukia had to stop herself from gaping at her Captain's open use of the other's name. She had never heard _anyone_ refer to the Second Captain so informally. Even the drunken louts from the Eleventh didn't _dare_ use her first name, regardless of how many drinks in they were. "I'm sure she already heard enough of that from Byakuya."

Thankfully, she had, though she was sure that he would subtly remind her of that for the next several months. Or decades. Probably the latter, knowing both her brother and her own luck.

"I am sorry Captain. I know my actions were irresponsible, and that I also put Third-Seat Kotetsu in danger as well." it was a struggle to keep her voice even. _This is like when I was waiting for my death all over again... _"Please sir, I was the one who convinced her to do this, against her own wishes. If there is any punishment to be had, please limit it to myself."

"It may have been your idea, Rukia," his voice was kind, but remained firm, "But she should have known better. You will not be allowed to resume active service for the next month, and you will have to be cleared by both the Fourth Division and the Twelfth division before you will return on a provisional basis. If you pass those tests, and in my opinion, you perform acceptably during your probation period of one additional month, you will return as a full squad member."

She had to keep herself from wincing. Though she would at least be able to defend herself, he was basically consigning her to the two months of infirmary and rear-line work that she had been trying to avoid.

_He probably worked out how long it would have taken my powers to awaken normally, then made sure that the punishment lasted just as long._

"And further.. Third-Seat Kotetsu will be your assigned handler during this time period, and will also be on probation. Any further reckless acts or rule-breaking on the part of either of you will result in her demotion." Ukitake glanced at the blonde woman behind him, his face becoming hard "That includes drinking on duty Kiyone."

"Sir, yes sir." her usual cheerful adoration was completely absent, and Rukia felt a little bit more of herself die inside.

"You will also both be excluded from the training exercises that will begin tomorrow." this was Sui-Feng, her tone as bland as it had been before, as though she held no real interest in the proceedings before her. "And your participation in them once your probation period begins will be determined by me."

_Great, just ban us right now why don't you._

Ukitake turned away from her, and she could practically _feel_ the disappointment radiating off of him. "Vice-Captain Kotetsu is otherwise occupied today, so Third-Seat Iemura will be by this afternoon to evaluate both of you. Please remember my words, and think over your actions carefully. You are both fine soul reapers, who will one day ascend to great heights, but this.. this is not something that can be overlooked."

And with that, he left them, Sui-Feng calmly striding out behind him.

She waited until she was sure that they were gone before she spoke quietly, "Kiyone... I.."

"Oh just shut up!" a gloved hand covered her mouth, "Don't even say it!"

Blinking, she stared up at her.

"I did it cuz I wanted to help you! It worked and you're all right, so there's nothing to be sorry about!" her friend stared right back down at her, "Yeah, we got in trouble, but I get in trouble all the time remember!"

_About every other day, on average. Unless she's having an off week._

"And you still gained something! Just because you aren't a full member doesn't mean you can't train, and now you get two full months of it, without having to deal with all of the paper-work and other stupid shit that we have to do!" she removed her hand, poking Rukia in the forehead with a finger, "Don't you get it Rukia? The Captain was just _acting_ mean to keep the ninja queen off his back! He's giving you a long time to prove that you're strong!"

"He was still plenty mad Kiyone.." she spoke quietly, shaking her head.

Her friend's exuberance faded, and her slim body sat heavily on the bed next to her. "Yeah. I haven't seen him that mad in a long time. I guess he's punishing us and helping us at the same time."

"That sounds like him." she felt a weak smile form, "Still..."

A hand covered her mouth again, "Hey! Stop that!"

"Grrrmmph!" wiggling, she managed to pull her arms out from under the sheets, using her freed hands to push the offending hand away, "You stop that! You can't just stop me from saying what I'm going to say!"

"Oh yeah? Watch me!" the gloved hands grabbed at her wrists, hauling her hands up and above her head.

"Stop it!" Rukia was struggling and trying to get her arms free for all she was worth, but nothing seemed to dislodge the other woman. "Kiyone! I'm just trying to apol-"

Somehow the blonde managed to pin both of her hands above her head with one hand, and the other promptly flew back down to stop her from saying anymore.

"Rukia! I told you that you _don't_ have to!"

Glaring upwards, she opened her mouth and bit down as hard as she could.

Kiyone yowled, quickly retrieving her appendage, shaking it frantically.

"And I told _you_ to stop it!"

"Well last time _I _checked, I was still the Third-Seat of our division, so I _order_ you to stop apologizing Officer Kuchiki!"

Her mouth had shot open to contest that, then slammed shut, her teeth grinding as she glared upwards.

"Why you-"

"Ahem."

Both of their heads spun to the doorway, where a blonde man stood, one cheek twitching slightly.

"If you are both quite finished exerting yourselves, I am to evaluate your spiritual energy." a hand slowly pushed his reflecting glasses upwards, "Or if you prefer, I could come back once you're finished with each other."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean Iemura?" Kiyone glared from atop her, eyes narrowing.

"I would think it obvious, given your current.. position."

If she had thought she would die of shame when her brother and Captain had spoken to her, now it felt like she would die of embarrassment as their position became clear. Kiyone, at some point, had straddled her waist to keep her pinned down, and with one hand pinning her arms above her head, it certainly would seem that _something_ was happening.

Her own flush rising to her face, Kiyone practically leaped off of her and the bed, looking anywhere but at her or the other Third-Seat. "Just do your tests already."

"Very well." he started to pull out some equipment from the pouch slung around his back. "This will only take a few minutes. Please contain yourselves until I am finished."

The heat in her face vanished at his comment, her eyes narrowing. "Please remember, Third Seat Iemura, that though I have no rank, I am a member of the Kuchiki family. You will treat me with the dignity that my status requires."

Kiyone, well aware that Rukia didn't care at all for her status, and even went out of her way to make sure that people treated her like anyone else, seemed to barely keep her own face straight as Iemura paled considerably.

"Ah... y-yes ma'am. I will keep what I have seen to myself."

"Very well. You may proceed." she kept her voice cold and detached, even if she was dancing inside as the man paled even further. "But do remember who my brother is. He is quite... protective."

"Y-yes.. Kuchiki-dono. I w-will remember."

"Good. You may proceed."

Both she and Kiyone barely kept themselves together as the now terrified officer struggled through the exam, and he hurriedly jotted down their results on a slip of paper before practically fleeing.

They waited until he was well gone before bursting out laughing, doing their best to enjoy their few moments of joy after their otherwise abysmal night and morning.

* * *

"_Our overall success rate is still low, but improving. What is most important is that we have restored their ability to change, adapt, and evolve. Once our chosen trio have established themselves properly, we will begin phase two."_ - _Aizen, concerning his Espada_

* * *

_**The Next Day, Twelve days till engagement**_

Tier Harribel watched as her entire Legion ran through a drill. Nearly two thousand souls shifted into a battle formation, several ranks deep, energy taut as if they were casting spells.

Her masked face nodded in approval. "They are performing well."

"Thank you Captain." Tribune MacKean was standing next to her on the tower overlooking the massive space, "Your _fraccion_ have done an excellent job as well."

"Good." she found them after a few moments of examination. Appaci and Mila-Rose were with the veteran _triarii, _kneeling along with the soul-reapers. Sung-sun was further back, standing near the support units, prepare to hide them with her _Muda_ should it be required. "Are the rank and file treating them appropriately?"

"Yes ma'am. Appaci and Mila-Rose have won over the veterans with their fighting prowess, and their willingness to learn how they fight as a group." he chuckled quietly, "That and their.. _enthusiasm_ during the occasional spar or brawl.

That did not surprise her. "And Sung-Sun?"

"The same ma'am, though their respect for her is more distant. Tribune Donnovich has been helping them with protocol, while Carlson and I ran them through the formations."

She inclined her head to a side, and watched the remainder of the exercise. The various units shifted their positions, simulated magic filling the air with a heavy static. Messengers tested their flash steps, darting between formations, while the support magi arranged themselves to create healing fields or magical barriers.

After a while of movement, the forward units fell back, and the veterans rose. Moving as one, they flashstepped forwards, swords at the ready, her _fraccion_ bellowing orders along with the Centurions and Tribunes.

"Your standard tactics are to wage battle with the younger warriors first, to wear down the enemy until a weakness appears, then you intend to commit your veteran soldiers." she let her aqua eyes slide across the various formations, "The Captain remains near the rear, coordinating the battle via messengers, only becoming involved if the battle requires it."

"Yes ma'am, but you are our Captain now, and you may deploy us as you see fit."

Glancing over the young man, she nodded slowly. "I may be your Captain now, but your people have experience fighting in this manner, whereas I do not. I will not throw away their lives by being unfamiliar with this method of battle. Coordinating this raid will serve me well as training for future battles."

"Yes ma'am."

"End the exercise. And tell the Legionnaires that I am.. impressed with their coordination."

He gave her a small smile, "Thank you ma'am, I will do so."

"When you return, bring both my _fraccion_ as well as Tribunes Donnovich and Carlson. I will be at the training facility, waiting."

Though the smile faded into a slight frown of confusion, her appointed second-in-command gave her a salute before vanishing.

Turning away from the view before her, she began to make her way back towards the compound proper.

_Their training is proceeding well, and the replacements for those lost in the battle have integrated seamlessly. And better, my three are integrating themselves into it, gaining the respect of the legionnaires in the process. _That could only mean good things as far as she was concerned. She had cared for those three since she had found them as _adjuchas_, and cared for them now that they had become Arrancar with her. To see them becoming respected members of the Legion in which she commanded... it made her proud.

_Perhaps Nelliel is right. Perhaps in becoming Arrancar, we have regained those hearts that we had lost when we became hollows._

It was the only explanation she could think of for the way she had begun feeling towards her subordinates. As a hollow, she should have been alarmed as they grew, felt tinges of fear at the idea of their surpassing her. She remembered having those feelings was she was a pure _Vasto Lorde_, remembered having to repress the instinct to consume and kill. Now, instead, she merely felt pride that they were growing.. and.. happiness.

_And Lord-Aizen and Lady Bast are the ones who gave us these gifts. Aizen gave returned to us pieces of the hearts we had lost, and Lady Bast allowed us to come here, to remember what it was like to live amongst other souls, souls that have retained their hearts._

Reaching their compound did not take her long, the few members who had remained behind on sentry duty saluting her as she entered.

Inclining her head, she breezed past them, slipping into a few steps of _sonido_ to reach the training facility a tad more quickly.

Once within, she reached back and drew Tiburon from its sheath, feeling the reassuring weight fall into her hand, and the restrained instincts contained within struggling to re-unite with her.

Closing her eyes, her body began to move through her own exercises, blade singing through the air as she moved. Energy sank into her blade, the _Ola Azule_ causing it to glow brightly, the energy ready to lash out.

Keeping the energy within, she varied her movements, accelerating them, slipping into _sonido_, and being careful to concentrate, keeping her energy contained within the blade. The longer she could keep the energy balanced perfectly, the better she knew her control was becoming. To grow in strength was no longer possible for her, so instead her focus must be to improve the control she had over that strength. A blast of energy a dozen meters wide might _look_ impressive, but its destructive energy would be spread along the entire arc. If she could concentrate that same energy into a blast a tenth the size, the damage done to a single target would be exponentially greater.

Time passed, her movements growing faster, then slower, then quicker again as she went through her paces. It was not until she could feel her half dozen subordinates approaching that she relaxed, letting the energy drain gently bleed away.

"Lady Harribel." the four women greeted, followed closely by the pair of men.

Sung-Sun took a step forwards, her head cocked even as she kept her mouth hidden behind a sleeve. "Are we here to train against you, or against each other?"

"Each other." her hands moved on their own, sheathing _Tiburon_ with a snap, even as her eyes surveyed the six of them. "Sung-Sun, you will duel Tribune Donnovich. Appaci with Carlson. Mila-Rose and the Senior Tribune."

Donnovich, a hand idly going through her spiked blonde hair, spoke up, "Beyond not interfering with the other duels, any rules of engagement ma'am?"

"Do not kill or seriously maim one another." A single burst of _sonido_ removed her from the arena, carrying her up to an observation booth hanging from a wall. She raised her voice to maintain the clarity of her orders, "You may only release your blades when I command it. _Fraccion_.." she made sure to look at each in turn, "Your.. _pet _will remain sealed."

Beneath her, the small group split apart into pairs, spreading out as best they could within the moderately sized grounds. Carefully, six blades were drawn, their wielders beginning to size one another up.

She waited until they settled into their places before nodding, "Tribunes, release to tier one."

"_Crush, Cymopoleia._" Donnovich whipped her _spatha_ in a quick motion, the blade warping into a bronze war-hammer in a shimmer of blue light.

"_Breath, Raróg." _Carlson's was a tad more dramatic, a burst of wind sending dust flying into the air as his own short sword curved into a scmitar form.

"_Prowl, Jaegerin__."_ The final sword shifted, nauseatingly bright purple energy rippling across it as it morphed into traditional European-style long sword.

Giving them just a moment to once more settle into their combat stances, she nodded a final time. "Begin."

Chaos erupted almost at once.

On her left, the only pair consisting of females were engaged in a ranged duel. Donnovich was growling a command she could not hear, sending blasts of water similar to her own through the air to be countered by Sung-Sun's rapid _balas. _At the moment, both seemed to be focused primarily in examining the other's spiritual energy and powers, neither putting their full force into their blows.

_Neither will commit to a true battle until I give the word. They are cautious, knowing they cannot give away the advantage._

In contrast with that measured fight, Appaci and Carlson already looked as if they fully intended on killing one another. Her _fraccion_'s chakram were blurred as she frantically parried the Tribune's wicked blade, the arrancar also occasionally blurring into _sonido_ in order to escape from crescents of fire. For his part, Carlson was loudly cursing her refusal to stand still and be struck, and was relying heavily on his superior strength to force her back.

_I must work on their tactics, he is strong, and his bladework is solid, but like Appaci, he is a brawler._

The final duel resembled a mix of the other two. Mila-Rose was snarling, trying to dart in close enough to clash _Leona_ against her foe's blade, but was continuously being frustrated by the Senior Tribune's magic. A burst of _sonido_ would be countered by a tiny shield, reflecting her own momentum back, knocking the broadsword askew. A leap would be answered by a telekinetic shove, throwing the dark-skinned woman away. MacKean seemed almost bored, more interested in seeing how far he could push the arrancar woman than actually taking the fight seriously.

_She is attempting to fight smart, like Sung-Sun, to find her opponent's weakness to exploit it, but he is frustrating her. _Aqua eyes narrowed, _He's forcing her to reveal her strength by angering her beyond her ability to think._

Surely enough, the Lioness lost her temper in short order.

"God Dammit!_ Cero!_" A bright ball of orange energy appeared above her left fist, focusing for a second, before the other slammed into it, a wide beam of destruction roaring towards her foe.

He was fast, though not quick enough to escape from her vision. A flash step to his left, then several more forwards carried him through the cero, his own power spiking to insulate him from the blast. His momentum carried him to within an arm's length of his foe, his sword flashing in the orange light.

Mila-Rose, still recovering from sending her powerful blast, twisted away, an arm sluggishly moving to parry the slash.

_First blood._

A light spray of red indicated a new phase to the duel, sparks flying as their swords met, Mila-Rose falling back to shelter her now-wounded left arm.

"Katrina Donnovich, release." her attention shifted, the command bellowing from her throat to be heard above the noise.

"_Rise from the depths and unleash your fury!_" Something gleamed into place upon the hammer's flanks, barely visible before the pale woman slammed it into the ground. The soil erupted, water exploding in a torrent of force. Sung-Sun's hastily summoned _bala_ slowed, but did not stop, the blast, and the dainty arracnar was hurled back, her power frantically being directed into her own skin to diminish the blow.

A quick glance away and to her right showed that the situation had not changed, both of her subordinates keen on bludgeoning one another with little thought on strategy.

"Carlson, Appaci. Release to your limits."

"Thrust_, Cierva!_" The dark-haired girl assumed her true form, snarling with rage as her wounds healed.

"Explode with fire_,_" The scimitar burst into flames, "and send her flying_!"_arms blurred as they crossed, the a copy of his blade appearing in his other hand.

He shouted another command, drowned by a howl of wind. A small tornado, perhaps twenty feet tall, appeared as he grunted with effort, blades whirling before him. The twister quickly grew in width, drawing in the thin soil from the ground's floor, and burst into flames a moment later, a scimitar kissing one of its sides.

Appaci, rather than attempting to discover a way to dispel the creation or evade it, settled for a more direct solution, just as Harribel could have guessed.

"_Cero!_"

_That much energy reacting..._

Sure enough, however the tornado worked, it did not react as she was sure Appaci thought it would when hit by her crimson _Cero_. Rather than merely exploding when the edge of the energy reached it, the red light _bent_, twisting along the edge of the tornado. Within a second, it had sucked in the entire _cero_, becoming almost painfully bright as the energy roared in tight circles.

Even from a distance, she could see the Tribune' stagger, his energy roaring, desperately trying to keep control of his creation. He maintained it for a few moments, then the entire thing simply exploded in a combined burst of red energy and roaring fire. Both of the fighters were hurled away from the epicenter, Carlson slamming into the ground, while Appaci simply hit the wall far behind her, then dropped. Neither got up.

Shaking her head, she could only sigh through her mask as the result.

Both of the other fights shifted as the blast hit them. MacKean and Mila-Rose were closer, and were the more affected. The edge of the fireball caught the both of them, their fight becoming on hold as they staggered out of the smoke coughing and cursing.

For the first time, Mila-Rose managed to recover first. Her dark-skinned _fraccion _grabbed her blade in both hands, darting in with a snarl at the still recovering male.

Again the blades flashed, sparks flying, MacKean falling back under her furious assault, his face set in concentration as he fought to regain control of the situation.

The other duel paused for a few moments as the rushing smoke filled the arena, then resumed as both women realized the blast had not affected the other. Air crackled as _sonido_ and flash-steps were used, the air between them filled with blasts of water and energy. Even as she glanced over, Donnovich was barely able to use a blast of water to deflect a purple _cero._

_They are both growing tired, their chosen form of combat utilizes large amounts of spirit energy. _Her eyes frowned, _Their stamina will need work, or else they must train harder in the more basic forms of combat._

"Sung-Sun, Donnovich, that is enough." A single _sonido_ step took her down to the floor, between them. "You've fought well, now please take care of the wounded."

"Yes my lady." "Yes Captain." Both women were panting slightly, and seemed glad for her intervention.

Letting them move on, she turned to the only fight remaining.

It had, apparently, shifted course once again. She had missed whatever her appointed second had done to frustrate Mila-Rose, but the lionness was again on her back foot, snarling and cursing loudly as she was pushed back.

_His swordsmanship is effective, but slightly... off. It's as if..ah._

A _sonido_ burst carried her directly behind the man, her right arm already hurtling forwards. To his credit, he reacted as best he could, twisting his body around, trying to interpose his blade between them.

Though his mind had detected her presence at once, his reflexes weren't quite up to the task of reacting.

She pulled much of her strength from the blow, saving him from any broken bones. It was still sufficient to knock the breath from him, the officer staggering back and falling to a knee, his blade haltingly raising in a defensive place in front of him.

"Enough, well done." Her arms crossed her chest, "Tribune, you are used to fighting in a group, yes?"

He waved a hand along his sword, panting slightly, its form shimmering back into a plain _spatha_. "Yes Captain. We're... trained mostly... in group combat. How did you.. notice?"

"Your strikes and movements, you move your blade primarily to defend your front, leaving your back and sides open, as if you expect others to be there. It leaves you vulnerable to opponents utilizing flash-steps to get to your flanks."

A grimace, "I'll work on the Captain."

"For now, help the others to the infirmary." she turned away, "All of you are excused from the afternoon's training. I will speak to you individually later about what you must improve upon."

"Ma'am."

* * *

_Ichimaru's Notebook; Harribel's Tribunes_

_My my, saw Harribel putting her tribunes through their paces today. Good thing she didn't notice me behind my little shield. Don't think she'd have liked that much. _

_Got intrigued, so I went and looked up their history. Bunch of trouble'makers, more or less, bet I can have all kinds o' fun wit' 'em. Big guy get's in all kinds o' trouble with the drinking, and the pretty lady has a bit of an attitude problem._

_Third guy's interestin' to me though. 'Parently he used to be a big-shot Praetorian, one o' Bast's personal bodyguards, even got a bankai. No one knows why she booted him out to our dear Espada's squad._

_He'll be useful, long as he stays in line, but I don' think that'll be a problem. I saw the way he fought. He's a survivor, like me. He'll know better than to try anythin'. At leas', till someone else tries something. Who knows what'll happen then? With him and with the shark. Heh. Could be fun._

* * *

_Stealth Corps Report: Captain Sui-Feng's Eyes Only_

_At your command, Captain, we have observed and evaluated the various divisions as they have begun to prepare for war. It is as you feared, only our forces along with the Third are in any shape to meaningfully combat Atlantis._

_The Thirteenth and Eighth are in better shape than the majority of the rest, and are taking well to the training courses provided by Lieutenant Kira. As your own evaluation concludes, the Ninth and Seventh are coming along more slowly, but progress is visible. To our own surprise, the sixth division is likewise showing signs of improvement, with Captain Kuchiki showing unusual amounts of interest in how his people are doing._

_The Eleventh, First, and Twelfth have all largely disdained the additional training, if at all possible, they should be prevented from engaging Atlantis, and be directed towards the Hollows following Aizen. Of the remaining divisions, the Fourth is preparing for war-time casualty rates, though whether or not Retsu Unohana will take the field in a combat role is unknown. The Tenth division is transferring almost entirely to the world of the living, though stolen copies of Captain Histsugaya's training plan are extremely promising. _

_Finally, the Fifth division is still in chaos. Their lieutenant is in no shape to lead them, and their Third-seat is proving equally inept. I must recommend that a close eye be kept upon them, as it would not be a difficult unit to infiltrate._

_End Report._

* * *

**Next up is Chapter 4: Painful Moments**

Here, Ichigo gets to start is Vizard training a bit earlier than he did in canon, while Rukia managed to almost kill herself in the process of getting her powers back more quickly. We also saw a bit of the potential in Harribel's subordinate's, as well as the bare-bones structure of a legion.

In the next chapter, Hisagi has to deal with his own people's stubborn refusal to change their ways, Ichigo continuous to struggle with his hollow, and Aizen reflects upon the status of both himself and his kingdom.

**Please, Please, Please Review!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Painful Moments**

"_The kenpachi is a barely controlled beast, and her mongrels are little better. Your division has been created as her foil, to eliminate her mob should she slip off Yamamoto's leash. Discard your honor now, for you will train to fight without it, your only goal the deaths of your foe by any means available."~ Central 46, to the first Captain of Division 3_

* * *

_**That Night, Twelve Days until engagement**_

_**Che. Seriously, just kill them now and get it over with.**_

_Would you shut the fuck up already?_

_**You'd be doing them a favor, just reap 'em now and don' make 'em suffer.**_

Forcing himself to ignore the demon within hi sown head, Hisagi Shuhei watched as his troops attempted, yet again, to go through the cooperative training regimen that Captain Feng had given them.

"No dammit! Work together to take down the target!" his voice was hoarse from an entire afternoon of shouting similar instructions. _Dammit... this isn't working at all._

The shinigami that he had just berated gave him dirty looks out of the corners of their eyes, which he was doing his best to ignore. It would have been far less frustrating for him if they actually _tried_ to understand what he was trying to teach them. Instead, most of them viewed the entire effort as a colossal waste of time, and were openly resenting the entire affair. In the morning, that had largely led to a lazy, uncaring approach. As the day had dragged on, many, especially the higher seats, had begun edging towards open insubordination.

"Dammit Azaru watch where you move!" His fifth seat had just stepped directly into the path of an un-ranked warrior, shoving her into a pair of her equally low comrades, knocking all three of them down. "If this was an actual battle you just killed three of our own people!"

The heavy-set man's face turned purple in rage, "This is a fucking waste of time Lieutenant! Why the hell do you have us wasting our training on this shit!?"

Silence fell.

_**I vote we kill him. Messily.**_

"Did you just question my orders, _fifth seat_?" he kept his voice low, feeling his face slip into a deep glare. A hand unconsciously slid down to the hilt of _Kazeshini_, fingers drubbing against the smooth cloth.

Around the other man, space rapidly cleared as the division members moved away from their superiors. For his part, Azaru seemed slow to realize just how much trouble he had landed himself.

"We ain't the stealth force, and we're sure as hell not like those division three wimps." he growled, flexing the arm holding his wooden training blade, "Why the hell do I need to waste my time with this when I could be training for bankai?"

"Bankai, huh." he stared at the man for a few more long moments, slowly working out his best course of action. Simply beating some sense into him wasn't a viable option, it would just reinforce what the idiot had been taught. Talking was just as obviously out, given the apparent density of his brain. _Which leaves just one option._

"You three," he turned to the three younger shinigami that Azaru had knocked to the ground, "Get over here, and..." a quick glance around, and another knot of three fresh academy graduates trying painfully hard not to be noticed, "You three as well."

While they slowly shuffled over to him, he turned back to the fifth seat. "Since you're so confident, I'm sure you think you can beat these six kids in a sealed fight."

"With respect, _sir_, it wouldn't be a fair fight." the confident bark that answered didn't surprise him in the least, "Grab a dozen more and it might be close to even."

"Another dozen, huh."

"At _least._"

"Then prepare yourself while I give them their orders." turning away from the man, who promptly began to boast once more, he looked at the six young faces staring at him in abject horror. "Orders are simple, go kick his ass."

"B-but s-sir!" one of the girls squeaked, her eyes practically the size of saucers, "He's a f-fifth seat a-and-"

"And what?" he faced her directly, "The six of you have actually been _trying_ today, which is more than I can say for most of the rest of the division. Remember your lessons, work together, and _take him down."_

"S-sir.."

"I said _Take. Him. Down!_" the last three words came out as a full-out bellow that tore at his already sore throat, and a startled silence fell over the training grounds even as the rookies snapped to attention on pure reflex.

"Sir!"

_**What? No 'embrace your fear' speech?**_

_It's not what they need to hear right now._

_**Che. And there for a moment I thought you might have moved past that blind asshole's tripe shit…**_

"You," he stabbed a finger at the young girl who had stuttered out her protests, "I'm putting you in command, you have one minute to form your strategy, and then the fight will begin."

"O-ok... I m-mean, y-yes sir!"

Turning away as the huddled up, he noted that a large circle had already formed around them, leaving plenty of space for the coming spar. Ignoring the confused looks many of the more veteran members of the division were giving him, and the still condescending glare from Azaru, he let his legs carry him towards the milling crowd.

By the time he reached his place near the center, the rookies had broken up, forming into a loose formation opposite the officer.

_At least they were paying attention during the positioning drills. _Rather than forming up directly next to one another, they were spread out into a loose group, carefully spaced so that each could fight freely without having to worry about slicing up their allies next to each other, yet still close enough that it was just a single step for another warrior to move to lend a hand.

As one, all six raised their wooden swords in salute, which their opponent returned with a mocking twirl of his own.

Grinding his teeth at this display, he rose a hand, "Begin in three... two... one... start!"

Just as he could have guessed, the seated officer went straight for the quick win. Sprinting forwards with a harsh shout, his burly form went straight for the girl in the middle of the formation. Timing his blow perfectly as she hastily raised her blade to block, he beat the blade down and moved to follow with a slash that would probably knock her out, if not result in a broken skull.

Or at least, it would have if the two men to either side of her hadn't quickly side-stepped, locking their blades into a cross-block in front of their leader's face to catch the incoming slash.

Grunting loudly in surprise, Azaru took a quick half step back, blade sweeping from side to side to block the counter-slashes that the two rookies quickly threw at him. For her part, the young woman fell black slightly, her wavering voice calling out orders to the trio behind her.

He rose an eyebrow in surprise at what they were attempting, it was the drill that Azaru had thoughtlessly ruined earlier, and easily the most difficult that they had attempted all day.

"Hidaka, D-Dai, s-step out!"

The two men, both now frantically blocking the lightning-quick attacks that the officer was throwing at them, reacted at once, stepping to the outside and keeping their blades tucked in near their bodies. In the gap they left between them, the two women and single male of the second line dashed forwards, doing their best to attack simultaneously.

Quick blocks prevented the first two slashes from reaching him, but the third blade slipped through his guard and earned a loud grunt of pain as it firmly whacked into his left bicep.

"Left arm disabled!" Shuhei shouted, above the surprised murmuring of the crowd. Azaru cursed loudly, rapidly falling back, awkwardly using his blade with just his right hand.

"Just a matter of time now." the quiet voice came from next to him, and quick glance revealed the rotund form of his third seat and thus _de-facto_ second in command. "They took him by surprise with that move. He might get one or two, but he can't last forever fighting with just one arm."

He grunted, nodding as he turned back to the fight. Azaru had managed to down one of the women, and even as he watched the man neatly side-stepped an ill-timed thrust and retaliated by slamming the point of his sword into a rookie's throat, sending him instantly to the ground. A quick turn and slash was once more blocked by a pair of blades however, the remaining unranked just managing to get back into formation.

"In an all-out battle he would have trashed them."

A shoulder rose and fell in a shrug, "We have to start somewhere, and this is the kind of thing Izuru and his people could do in their sleep."

It was the other man's turn to grunt, "Can't say I'm happy about the idea of turning us into a new version of the Third, especially with ol' Ichimaru leavin' 'em." A round hand rose to forestall him, "But I guess that's what the Guard thought too, and nearly all those poor fools are dead now."

Meanwhile, out in the circle, the final act was playing out. The boastful fifth seat was cursing up a storm, his left knee resting on the ground after a slash had taken it out from under him, and the rookies were warily encircling him. None of them seemed eager to close to finish it, but it was painfully obvious that he wasn't going to be able to make an effective movements.

"It's over Azaru," he called out loudly enough to silence the crowd once more, "I'm calling it."

"I can still fight!"

A snort escaped him, "You've lost your left leg and left arm. If this was a real fight, you'd have already bled to death. It's over."

The fifth seat rose to his feet, glaring furiously at him. For a moment, he idly wondered if the man would be dumb enough to do something drastic, but instead he merely spat an oath before spinning on his heel and stalking away.

"Training is done for the day, you're all dismissed."

Around him, the division began to head back to the buildings they had commandeered, quiet murmuring at what they had just witnessed filling the air. Though many, maybe even most, still seemed derisive, loudly noting that _shunpo_ and _kido_ hadn't been allowed, in addition to not using real blades. A few though were pausing, glancing over at the six rookies who still seemed stunned at what they had done.

_It's a start. It isn't much, but it is a start._

_**At your current rate, you might have them ready to fight in oh... two decades. Face it, most of these morons are just gonna die.**_

_Did I ask for your opinion?_

_**You never do.**_

_There's a very, very good reason for that._

_**Che, whatever asshole.**_

Pushing the reaper within him away once more, he slowly walked through the moving crowd, heading towards the rookies that had just proved his point for him.

"S-sir!" The young woman he had put in charge of them quickly bowed, her fellows following suit.

"What's your name girl?" It was becoming clear that the young girl's speech wasn't simple nerves, she just had a slight stutter.

"R-Rena Goto sir!"

"Enough with the sir crap," he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "You six did good out there, actually putting today's lessons to use. It was good to see."

"Th-thank you s-sir!"

"Tomorrow I want the six of you to stick together for training, you seem to work well as a team." he gave them all the slightest of bows, "Now go get some rest."

The six of them moved away, murmuring to each other excitedly. They barely made it a dozen meters before they were swarmed by the division's other rookies, their voices raised in amazed congratulation. He snorted as they crowd kept moving, shaking his head in bemusement.

_Enjoy it while it lasts kids, soon enough it'll be the real thing._

"That was nicely done." A quiet voice murmured almost directly into his ear.

Before he was even aware of it, he was spinning in place, his zanpakotou flying to his hands as his heart spasmed into frantic motion. There was a burst of motion, and a wrenching blow twisted his slash into a thrust directly into the ground in front of him, a single tiny hand resting on the blade.

"That was also nicely done." Captain Sui-Feng nodded slowly in approval, an almost dainty hand releasing his sword, "Excellent reaction time."

"Captain…" he gave her a short bow as he pulled his sword out of the ground, sheathing it as he tried to calm down. _Did she really have to do that? _"What brings you out here?"

_**She just used you for practice you moron.**_

She shrugged slightly, "Captain Ukitake requested that I observe your first day of training."

He frowned, "Why?"

"He wishes to evaluate how well our rank and file respond to the new training regimen, given that we have our first joint-session planned in four days." Her hard eyes flicked over to the retreating backs of his people, "So far, the signs are poor."

A grimace twisted his face, "I got through to some of them."

"Mostly new recruits, mostly non-nobility, those with the most to gain from the training and least to lose." Another shrug, "Those with the least power to begin with, in other words."

He glowered slightly, "They still fought well."

"Then I am sure that they will die well."

_She sounds just like you._

_**Ha! I have way more fun killing people than she does.**_

"I'll bring them around Captain."

The dark eyes turned back to him, evaluating, then her head inclined slightly in a nod. "I will brief Ukitake on your progress."

"Thank you Captain."

She grunted in an almost masculine fashion, then vanished into a blur.

_Four days...looks like I'm not getting any sleep tonight, not if we're going to have any chance of not embarrassing ourselves._

With a sigh, he headed for his office.

* * *

"_A hollow is a creature of instinct, that much is taught often. What is less remembered by most is that there are more instincts than mere hunger and fear... less wholesome ones, far more difficult for one to control." Rose, conversing with Kisuke Urahara, expressing the difficulty of maintaining control over his inner hollow._

* * *

_**Two Days Later, Ten Days until Engagement**_

Ichigo groaned as he felt his back slam into one of the countless rock pillars scattered through the training area. Despite the pain, he knew better than to remain still, even for a moment. Two days in this dry hell had taught him better.

Ducking by reflex, he slid to his left, a foot roaring past his ear what couldn't have been more than a millisecond later. Rather than waste the time assuming a proper stance, he let out a harsh shout and drove the flat of Zangetsu's blade directly into his opponent's stomach.

There was a weird, echoing cry of startled pain from behind her mask, and the blow sent her flying away from him.

Correcting the momentum of his swing, he poured his energy into the cleaver, and brought the blade down in the reverse direction.

"Getsuga Tenshou!"

The broad arc of power tore through the air, slamming into the slim form at the apex of her flight There was another echoing cry of pain as the energy exploded on contact. Just two days prior, he would have felt like crap for hurting her like that. But then again, that was three or four dozen beatings ago.

He stayed in his en garde stance, even when the slim form plummeted to the ground. More than once he'd let his guard down after scoring a hit, and been promptly pummeled for doing so.

"Not bad kid." the guy who said he was the former Captain of Squad 9 grunted with what sounded like grudging approval. "You're getting better with those blasts of yours, not letting them leak power out everywhere."

Ichigo shifted slightly, keeping both him and the stirring girl in his sigh, pushing more power into his sword and holding it there, ready to toss it at either one of them.

The white haired man's smile grew, "Heh. Not bad at all."

_**I vote we kill them both in their sleep for doing this to us.**_ The voice echoed in his head, though thankfully it sounded as exhausted and in pain as he was. _**Or better yet, just kill him and tie her up. We can enjoy her after.**_

He didn't bother responding to the hollow's voice. It had become increasingly vocal as he'd been beaten up, gotten pissed off, then gotten beaten on some more. During the first few hours, Zangetsu had helped as best he could, his words calming him down and restraining the hollow. But as the battle continued, without a break, his sword had grown quieter, and the hollow louder.

Initially it had just been angry, screaming at him to kill the pair of visoreds training him, apparently furious at the pain being dealt to him.

Then one of his blasts of energy had hit Mashiro right across the chest, exposing her completely. _He_ had gotten slammed better than twenty yards through the air, and his hollow found something new to demand.

"Ow." The green haired girl moaned loudly, slowly rising to her feet. Her latex bodysuit had a massive tear in it, revealing burned skin from her left hip to the bottom right-side of her ribs, though thankfully everything important remained covered. "Not bad Ichi, you actually got me good that time."

Part of him wanted to wince and apologize, offer to run upstairs to get the giant Hachi who was apparently their healer. Another, increasingly vocal, part of him wanted to keep blasting her. He compromised by saying nothing, and remaining in his stance.

"He gettin' louder, Ichi?" She cocked her head at him, "It's only been two days."

"Yes." his voice came out lower than normal, and this time he did wince slightly.

Kensei grunted, "Faster than I expected. Mashiro, mask off, head up and grab Shinji and Hiyori."

"Why can't you do-"

"Mashiro!" the man's voice cracked with authority, he was eyeing Ichigo warily.

"Fine!" A slim hand rose up, tapping her mask once. It shattered, revealing her youthful features as she stuck her tongue out at him. She made sure that Kensei saw it before she spun on her heel and stalked away, muttering to herself. He tried not to stare as she moved. Well, he sort-of tried, mostly he tried to ignore his hollow's leering and cackling.

_Stupid hormones. Stupid hollow_.

_**Come now, King, you know you want to track her down tonight!**_

_Shut. The. Fuck. Up._

_**Just sayin' what you're thinking, King.**_

Kensei interrupted his internal monologue, "You adapt quickly kid."

He grunted, slamming Zangetsu's point into the soil, leaning exhausted on the blade, finally letting the energy disperse.

"I ain't going to apologize for this." Muscled arms crossed, "I know this kind of fightin' don't sit well with you, it ain't in your blood. But we don't have the time to coddle you, bring it along slow."

That didn't really warrant a response. It was basically the same thing that Shinji had told him when he first brought him here, and was nearly the same thing that Kensei had been telling him every day since the pair of them had started beating on him. This training was more than just teaching him to control his wild spirit energy, though that was the biggest part of it. He'd made some progress there, finding that he could 'store' a the power for a _Getsuga Tenshou_ within his blade, the energy increasing the power of his blows and allowing him to fire it off by reflex if he had to. The threat of constant ambush from whichever of his two opponents was 'resting' had done wonders at making sure he was more aware of what was going on around him, though Mashiro still regularly proclaimed that he sucked at it.

He groaned slightly in exhaustion, bad memories of the past two days flicking through his head.

Trying to relax and bandage up his wounds, then having to defend himself with a freaking towel when Kensei had flown at him. Getting ready to head upstairs so that the big guy, Hachi something, could heal him, and barely dodging a _cero_ from Mashiro. On and on and on. No sleep, barely time to get bandaged up, just constant battle. They used damn near every trick in the book to get him to lower his guard and then punish him for it. It was more than enough to piss him off, and the angrier he became, the more vocal the voice in his head became. He never felt like the hollow was trying to take over his body, like it had when he was fighting Byakuya, but it had become yet another irritant for him.

"I get it." he muttered, "You don't have to keep saying it."

The other man grunted, and said nothing more, just carefully watched him until a pair of individuals strolled down the staircase that led to the training room. He recognized them both, though he hadn't had much to do with either one of them since he had arrived.

"Well well Ichigo," the blonde man had a giant grin on his face, "I see that ol' Kensei here says yer ready for us already."

The little blonde woman next to him snorted, her face twisted in distaste.

_**Change of plan, forget the green one, let's kill her. Then go find the green one and...**_ he could _feel_ the hollow's grin, _**celebrate**_.

"Shinji." he grunted, staring at the Visored.

"So. You can hear him then."

"He wants me to kill Hiyori and rape Mashiro." He spoke the words bluntly. All three of them stared at him, varying degrees of shock on their faces. "I'm too damn tired to be politically correct about this shit." A shaking hand rose and ran through his hair to rub the back of his neck, "Can we get this show on the road?"

Shinji, who had looked the least surprised, nodded slowly. Then he vanished, and re-appeared directly in front of him, a hand spread directly in front of his face.

"Hiyori. Get the others. Listen to me carefully Ichigo. I'm going to send you on a one-way trip to yer own head. Once ya get there, you got one hour to beat that bastard o' yours inta submission." There as a flash of something right in front of his eyes, and he felt his body begin to fall.

Strangely, he could still hear Shinji speaking in a calm, measured tone, "You take too long, you lose, we won't have a choice, we'll have ta kill you."

Then he hit the ground, and everything went black.

* * *

"_Come now Sosuke. Surely you must agree that if we are to work together in this grand scheme of yours, that we can allow ourselves some benefits? Otherwise, we may end up no different than those old, scowling fools." ~ Captain Bast to then Captain Aizen_

* * *

_**The Next Day, Nine Days until Engagement**_

Sosuke Aizen, former Captain of Squad Five, King of Hueco Mundo, waited patiently for the Espada to leave his throne room before dropping the illusion, his body sweating with the effort of maintaining it.

Wounds that had appeared to be superficial became far deeper, while bandages that had been hidden became visible. His left arm vanished, re-appearing at its true place, cast and bound against his chest. He, the second most powerful being in existence, could only grit his teeth against the ache of his injuries. Even the simple matter of maintaining an illusion only over his own body had tired him, something that he should have been able to do in his sleep.

_Please, my wielder. You must rest. There is no shame in your injuries, and to slay one such as him at your own youthful age, it can be said that you performed beautifully._

Carefully pushing himself up with his right arm, he began the slow trek down the steps. _That he is dead is the only portion of that battle that went correctly. Agrippa and Palmer's deaths were outside of my designs._

_Did their deaths not allow for you to place Stark and Harribel within Atlantis? _Kyoka Suigetsu murmured pleasantly within his mind, _Did you not achieve a profit from their loss?_

Of course he had. Achieving gains, even small ones, despite major setbacks was what had allowed him to reach his current place at the pinnacle of power. But that did not conceal the fact that their deaths had indeed been setbacks, and rather severe ones. _None of my Arrancar are at the level they should be. While they are more useful where they are, they do not make up for the loss._

His blade had nothing more to comment upon that, which was expected. She was, after all, a reflection of his own soul. She full well knew what he had already stated, and had only spoken at all to remind him that not all of his plans had gone awry within the gates of that cursed citadel. The old shaman had managed to do something that few could claim to do, he had managed to surprise him. His dozen plans and well thought out concepts for how the battle would go once they crossed blades had gone straight out the window when the leader of the Guard had purposefully impaled himself upon Kyoka Suigetsu before fully releasing his own blade from mere inches away.

He had _felt_ the bones of his legs begin to crack and break as the ground heaved beneath them. Agrippa never even had a chance to release his own sword before being pinned in place by falling debris. Such a thing would not have been an issue for someone of his skill and power... but he'd barely blasted the debris off of himself before a hand the size of a small house risen from the soil around him, curling into a fist to crush his body like an insignificant insect. He had actually been forced to leave his own sword buried in the man's gut, leaving her behind to fight with only _kido_ and his hand to hand skills in order to avoid a similar fate.

And without her illusions, without even being able to call upon his _bankai_, it had taken himself and Palmer the better part of an hour to wear their opponent down. And the cost...

Curses that he never uttered when others were present flowed quietly from his lips. _The cost!_

Palmer was dead, too wounded to react properly when one of the shaman's sons had torn free from battling Nnoitora and Pelagius to hurl his sword into the man's back. Pelagius, quite probably the only person as skilled in the arts of magic as the legendary Tessai Tsukabishi, was now crippled, her left arm gone below the elbow, and it would be months before she could begin re-learning how to walk. Losing her ability to utilize the so called 'forbidden' kidos thoroughly derailed several avenues of approached that he had believed would bring fruitful returns before they could even be begun.

_Now I might consider myself lucky if she is aware enough to teach Bast and myself enough to prevent such techniques from being used against us._

The loss of two Captains and the crippling of a third in that single engagement had not even been the end of the unexpectedly poor news. He'd been forced to allow both Nnoitora and Luppi to leave Los Noches to hunt, to replenish themselves after their own severe injuries. In an odd twist of fate, Tosen was rather glad to already be blind, given the scar that now streaked from his forehead to his chin, leaving his left eye scarred and sealed. And while the Atlanteans had gotten off lightly in terms of casualties to their lower ranks, the hollow army that he had summoned to the battlefield had been, for lack of a better term, shredded, at a rate far worse than both his and Bast's worst case projections. While that news bothered him the least, replacing them would be an onerous, time consuming task piled upon the other problems.

And if such things were not enough, his own injuries were far beyond what even his worst-case projections had predicted. His left arm had shattered in several places, while both legs had severe fractures spread through them. All of which meant that every step he took was painful, and his normally boundless spiritual energy was virtually depleted.

_Even with healing kido it will take weeks before I am at a level capable of battling the senior captains, and months before I could cross blades with Yammamoto._

Such a time frame would normally have been laughably long, especially for someone of his strength. But the Captain Commander had somehow managed to divide his own power, sending it directly into the fresh wounds upon his body and attaching it there like a leech. While it was hardly threatening to him in the long term, it was proving tenacious in the face of removal, and making his recovery process far more lengthy than it should have been.

He frowned as his mental process was disturbed, the slightest of ripples in the air marking the presence of someone new.

"Lady Bast."

There was a deep sigh before his partner stepped from behind a pillar, her dark face amused, "Well, it is good to know that your injuries are genuine, I have been here since the meeting began."

In front of the only person he could actually _speak_ to, actually treat as an _equal_, he allowed his mask to drop, openly revealing his irritation. Perhaps his own estimates of his healing time frame were off if she had been able to lurk in his own _throne room_ for the better part of two hours. Had she been Shihoin, or even that runt Sui-Feng, he severely doubted he would have been in any condition to win such a battle.

"I"m assuming that you have a good reason for leaving Atlantis?" He growled irritably, wincing as he began to take careful, slow steps towards the exit hidden behind his throne.

Her dark form blurred, then reformed next to him, her long legs easily matching his slow pace. "Come now Sosuke, Nona and Ichimaru are more than capable of keeping your arrancar in line during my absence." There was a long pause before one of her hands reached out to brush against his bound left arm, motes of flickering green light lingering in long lines where her fingers had trailed along the bandaging, "Besides, since when have I been under your command?"

Resisting the urge to snarl something in irritation, he flared what little energy he still had, ridding himself of the phantom caresses her touch had left behind. "Why are you here?"

"Perhaps I was hopeful that you were less injured than I had thought," the tenor of her voice dropped, becoming low and sultry, "Alas, it seems we will have to wait for such distractions."

Completely against his will, he felt his heart thrum and his face flush. _Five centuries have I walked these realms, and yet she can rid me of my control with a pair of sentences!_

Kyoka Suigetsu's voice echoed within his mind, her voice amused, _Come now my host, it is no shame to take enjoyment from the company of those like yourself. You were alone for a very, very long time, it must be said. And it seems, so was she._

There was long sigh from beside him, his companion's voice returning to its normal, serious timber, "His energy still clings to you."

"Obviously."

There was another blur as she shifted from his left to his right, an armored limb wrapping around his waist. Anger coursed through him for a few moments at the touch, before he forced himself to give a grudging nod of thanks, letting her take some of his weight, the cool metal of her armor reaching him even through the cloth he wore.

"Your hollows are settling in well."

Irritation flashed again within him, "You've said as much in the reports you sent by messenger."

Teeth flashed in his peripheral vision, "The Coyote is awakening."

_Finally._ "You are sure?"

She stopped in place, her eyes becoming flat as she stared at him.

"Have any of your subordinates observed the change?" he corrected himself tactfully, even as he seethed inside at being forced to do so.

"Nona Avitus has, I have assigned her to the task of prodding your Vasto Lorde." the armored shoulder beneath his arm shrugged, "Whether or not they will return to their full strength before the battle is truly joined, I do not know."

"We must make every effort to bring that about." Starrk and his lesser half were easily the oldest, and just as easily the most powerful, of the Vasto Lorde that he had managed to find in better than a century of exploration of the barren wastes of Hueco Mundo. That they had managed to not only split their own being in two, but also achieve the Arrancar state, and do so without losing their sanity, was a mystery he dearly wished to solve.

_Any ability to achieve a stable, powerful Arrancar state without the need of the orb would be preferable to being forced to use it._

Unfortunately, whatever humanity that the pair of them had gained in the transformation also served as a limiter upon their powers. While he was comfortably sure that the power had not been wasted as a loss during the transformation, actually awakening that power had proven... difficult.

"At his full strength, they left legions of hollows dead from their mere spiritual pressure." he murmured, "Such strength would be beyond either of us, even at our current level. Perhaps even possessing as much raw power as Yammamoto himself."

"So long as that power remains leashed, and directed."

"But of course." The irritation began to fade, and he leaned more heavily upon her. "What of Gin?"

Another shrug made his arm rise and fall, "He has done nothing unusual as of yet."

"You still believe that he will betray us?"

"Do you not?"

He inclined his head slightly, "He will not do so until the moment is of the greatest advantage to him, though the why is remaining elusive. In the meantime, he will be useful. What of your own snakes?"

"They remain... skilled," her voice dropped to a growl, "That they exist is a given. I will find them, sooner or later."

They reached the massive doors to his quarters as she spoke, and she carefully moved away from him, knowing what would come.

"I would prefer sooner. Shatter, _Kyoka Suigetsu._" Colors danced in the corners of his eyes for a bare moment, the illusion falling back into place with barely a breath. "Loli. Menoly. Leave us."

Without a sound, the massive doors swung open, revealing the two arrancar women. Both started at the sight of the Lady Captain beside him, _ in particular, her teeth audibly grinding as her energy rippled.

"My lord-" was all that she was able to snarl out before she choked, gasping for air.

"Loli! What... ah..." Menoly, her eyes wide, cut herself off with a soft whimper, her aura spiking with terror as her companion fell to her knees, her energy running wild as she tried to free herself of what was choking her.

"Your Lord ordered you to leave, yet you spoke." Bast spoke, her tone conversational as she regarded the black haired hollow, "Disobedience is not something that he or I tolerate lightly."

"I..." it was all that the small woman could get out before dropping to her hands and knees, wheezing desperately for air.

Bast tilted her head slightly, "Did I give you leave to speak?"

Loli frantically shook her head, long tresses of hair flopping around wildly.

"You were ordered to _leave." _An armored hand rose, then was flung to the right in the gesture of a person throwing away trash. And for the barest moment, he caught the sight of green motes of light, taking the shape of a skeletal hand hurtling through the air to strike the hollow. There was a grunt of pain, which turned into a loud shriek as her scantily clad form slammed into the floor a good fifty feet down the hall.

Menoly, proving yet again to be the more sensible of the pair, shakily rose a fist to her heart in an Atlantean salute to Bast, bowed as low as she could to him, then darted towards her whimpering companion.

Neither he nor Bast spoke as they calmly moved into his quarters, waiting until the great doors had shut and she had activated the sealing kido built into their massive frames.

"Is their companionship truly worth the bother?" she muttered, her own irritation coloring her voice.

_No. It is your anger that makes them worth the bother. _"They have their uses."

"I'm sure." her own power rippled slightly, revealing that her irritation ran deeper than her voice was allowing. It was a rare moment that she lost her composure, and he savored the the feel of it. "I must return to Atlantis to supervise the preparations for our first attacks upon the Gotei.."

He inclined his head slightly, as a Lord would to a favored vassal, "By all means."

She stared at him, long and hard, then turned back to his doors. They opened slowly for her, and closed as she strode through them. He watched as they slowly closed behind her, and continued to wait patiently.

A few moments later, there was a wrenching, screeching sound, as though some titanic creature was sharpening its claws upon the walls of _Los Noches_ just outside of his door.

_Why the pair of you insist on this... strange desire in angering each other, I do not believe I will ever know._

_Trust me.. it is all... part of the plan. Now, I could do with some tea._

* * *

_Kisuke Urahara's Notebook, Page 14,328_

_The Vasto Lorde. The most powerful of hollow-kind, each a nation unto itself, a being of raw power such that only a Captain can stand a chance in single combat. Thankfully, for both worlds, the ravenous, endless hunger of their kind has been sated in this final evolution. They have no need to feed, capable of absorbing reishi from the air around themselves in a manner similar to a Bount's._

_However, while they may have no physical need to do so, there is definite evidence that many of them still enjoy doing so. The most famous of these was Drakul, a Vasto Lorde who came to our notice during the Quincy Wars. It was his legions of hollows that scoured the human realms of Europe and Asia during those bleak years, and his death at the hands of Nona Avitus earned her the highest acclaims of all three cities._

_Currently, we have only vague knowledge of other Vasto Lorde. The skeleton king is the most obvious, as he maintains a court of some form outside of the dead zone, with a legion of hollows at his beck and call. A demonic being of some form was reported by Avitus, after her slaying of Drakul. She believed him a weaker Vasto Lorde, subordinate to the elder hollow, who fled into the dead zone upon his master's death. She also reported sensing, though not seeing, a being she described as 'incomprehensibly powerful' not far from the site of her final battle. What this creature might have been, we can only guess._

_To date, I have made several petitions to the Central 46 and Captain-Commander to allow me to lead a recon team to Hueco Mundo to find any trace of these beings, but have yet to receive a response..._

* * *

_A report from Szayel Granz to Lord Aizen_

_My Lord Aizen,_

_As you have requested, I have begun a mapping project of the so-called 'dead zone' of Hueco Mundo. Such a term, is of course, a product of shinigami scientists unable to truly explore such territory. Rest assured, there are many Vasto Lorde who are far more like our current Primera than our former, whose kingdoms war against one another in endless battle. It is all rather dull, to be frank, countless brutes blasting one another in the names of masters who care not for their very existence._

_While we know such things exist as fact, locating even these kingdoms is difficult. The area in question is larger than the entirety of the Seireitei and Atlantis combined, and it may be decades before we are even at the fifty percent mark. On a more positive note, we have promising lines of inquiry, given by adjuchas found by our dear Grimmjow, that there are at least two Vasto Lorde relatively nearby._

_I currently predict that we will make contact with one or the other within six months, easily within your current requested time frame._

_Szayel Granz, Sexta Espada_

* * *

_**Next up is Chapter 5: Fields of Dirt**_

We get a brief look into Ichigo's training, and see how Hisagi and the Ninth are fairing. Meanwhile, Aizen and Bast irritate one another, seemingly for their own amusement. In the next chapter, the build up to the first battles of the war will began in earnest, with Atlantis preparing their final preparations before their first attacks upon the Seireitei.

**Please, please, please Review! **


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